Yankees Reported Payroll at 164 Million Dollars. (Justin Boggs)

George Steinbrenner just keeps on spending.  Steinbrenner told the New York Daily News last week that the team's current payroll for 2003 is an all-time high of $164 million. That is about $24 million more than at this time a year ago.  The next highest payroll,  New York Mets at 119 Million.

The Yankees payroll is about 60 million dollars more than division rival,  Boston Red Sox.  The Red Sox payroll is 6th highest in the majors.

"Winning and appealing to fans is where the money is," Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost told the Daily News. "We also are growing the next generation of fan with our approach."

The Yankees just don't look worried about the Luxury Tax. 

"You don't have to spend that kind of money to win," Cashman said

"What we see with the Yankees is that there has been no change in priorities," a baseball official told the Daily News. "Certainly they talked about cutting payroll and ... there's no disputing they made an effort to. It was probably always their plan."

Helping the Yankees keep there payrolls high,  Hideki Matsui was signed for $21 million over three years.  Jose Contreras was signed for $32 million over four years.