Hal Steinbrenner: Barring injury, 'We have a championship-caliber team'

  Over the winter, Brian Cashman described the franchise as the little engine that could.  Cashman's boss believes it's the little engine that will.  "I think we have a championship-caliber team, without a doubt," Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said on ESPN Radio's The Michael Kay Show on Wednesday afternoon. "A lot of things have to go right. We have to stay healthy. It's going to be an uphill battle -- it always is in our division. It's a tough division and it won't be any different this year. But I believe we've got a real shot." Although the Yankees have the seventh-highest payroll in baseball this season at $167 million -- which happens to be their lowest mark since 2003 -- the team is laden with talented pieces, and their expectations are lofty. After falling one win shy of a World Series appearance last October, the team traded for the reigning National League MVP in Giancarlo Stanton, and currently the Yankees have a 10-percent chance to win this year's Fall Classic, according to FiveThirtyEight's season projections. Despite the optimism, the Yankees will be without their starting first baseman in Greg Bird for at least six weeks, as he underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in his right ankle earlier this week.  “I’m very disappointed,” Steinbrenner said of Bird's injury. “But our spring was fairly healthy. He’ll be back sooner rather than later. He came back last time fairly quickly, we’ll see.” Fortunately for the Yankees, the lineup will still consist of young, promising sluggers. Take Aaron Judge, for example, who Steinbrenner expects will perform at a higher level than his Rookie of the Year status in 2017. “He was not healthy the whole year,” Steinbrenner said of Judge, who hit 52 home runs last year and underwent surgery on his left shoulder in the offseason. “If we can keep him healthy, there is no reason to assume he can’t have a better year.” On Thursday afternoon, the Yankees will open the 2018 regular season against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.  "I'm always excited for this. It's a fresh start. It's full of hope, the year," Steinbrenner said. "It is a little bit different because of what we accomplished last year and the expectations being so high and having such a great group of young players and veterans alike. It's just a lot to be excited about."

"We have a championship caliber team, without a doubt."

Hal Steinbrenner is as excited as anyone for the start of the @Yankees 2018 season. pic.twitter.com/WI8uY1enk8 — YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 28, 2018

  If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at thanslin@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.