Although New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is just 54 years old, he already has an ideal successor lined up.
Steve Swindal Jr., Hal’s nephew and the grandson of the late George Steinbrenner, is the Yankees’ assistant director of player development. Both within and outside the organization, he is seen as the heir to his uncle’s position, having been involved in the family business since his teenage years. “I think I understood at an early age that I was obviously born into a family where I was going to have opportunities that other people might not have,” Swindal said in an interview. “To hide from that would be kind of silly. I feel like if you have the opportunity, you should seize it and make the best of what you can. To me, that meant learning as much as I possibly could from the bottom levels and working my way up to understand how everything operates. This [working for the Yankees] is all I ever wanted to do,” Swindal proudly stated.
In 2005, George announced that Swindal’s father, Steve Sr., would be his successor. However, after a DUI arrest and subsequent divorce from George’s daughter Jennifer, Steve Sr.’s involvement with the Yankees ended; George’s sons Hal and Hank eventually took over.
Steve Jr. is cautious about assuming the “heir apparent” role due to his father’s experience, and he also serves as his uncle’s first line of defense against criticism. If (or when) Swindal Jr. takes over, he would aim to balance George’s competitive fire with Hal’s patience. George was known for bringing in superstars and aggressively pursuing free agents and trade targets, but his “win now” mentality eventually harmed the team in the late 1980s, depleting prospects and creating an unstable carousel of managers. Conversely, Hal has been loyal to his employees, fostering a stable farm system and on-field product, but sometimes to a fault; he has passed up on stars like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and Corey Seager, while the team tends to hold on to prospects too long. Ultimately, Swindal Jr.’s goal is the same as his grandfather’s and uncle’s: to compete for and win the World Series. While it may be some time before he takes the reins (if at all, depending on whether he avoids a major misstep like his father’s), Swindal Jr. currently has all the makings of a great sports owner.
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