With the $52 million contract extension outfielder Brett Gardner signed this weekend, the Yankees are now the world’s eighth largest economy, leap-frogging India, Italy and Russia.
Team management is said to be thrilled to now have exceeded the payroll of the Dodgers, who last year surpassed the economies of Mexico, Spain and Australia for the 12th spot on the list of countries ranked by GDP.
“Most people think we’re competing with the Red Sox and Rangers for American League supremacy,” owner Hank Steinbrenner told the New York Post. “Not true. We’ve now set our sights on overtaking France, Germany and Japan and becoming a top three world economy.”
Added Steinbrenner: “We should be there at some point in mid-2015.”
