When asked about Boston’s spiraling payroll and spending spree this offseason, Steinbrenner said, “John (Henry) is committed to winning as we are. He’ll do what he has to do.”

He added, “The Red Sox are always gonna be there with the Yankees along with five or six other teams who can win the World Series. This year it’s the Phillies. The AL East is an SOB.”

Concerning his own team, Steinbrenner said that he sees a hunger returning to the team, the same hunger he saw in 2009.

“In 09 I saw it,” he said. “… Sometimes they celebrated a little too much last year. Some of the players too busy building mansions and concentrating on other things and not concentrating on winning. I have no problems saying that. They’ve come into this spring with a new hunger and that’s what it takes to win.”

The one player who built a “mansion” was Derek Jeter.

“I’m not singling anybody out,” Steinbrenner said. “This year, from what I’ve seen by our coaches they’ve come in with a real new drive and determination, the kind they had in ’09. I think they felt embarrassed last year. It bothers them.”

Concerning the team’s inability to acquire a starting pitcher, Steinbrenner said, “We did. We got Soriano. Everybody’s missing the point. We didn’t get Lee, but we got the second-best relief pitcher in the American League and now he’s the set-up guy.”

I wonder if Hank knows that A-Rod is purchasing a penthouse in The Rushmore Building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side? That’s sorta like a mansion, isn’t it?

For Hank’s Yanks, with spring training just around the corner, this is the bottom line: Whatever it takes to win championship No. 28.

Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees co-chairman, is fired up for the 2011 season — even without Cliff Lee in pinstripes.

“We will do what we have to do to win,” Steinbrenner told The Post recently in a wide-ranging interview at Steinbrenner Field. “We have the highest payroll and the reason is we are committed to our fans to win.

“We just have to (bleeping) win,” Hank added emphatically, looking out onto the field and sounding much like his father.

“The AL East can toughen you up,” Steinbrenner said. “Hopefully it will work to our benefit. We will do what it takes to win. Look at the money we are paying out in revenue sharing. We are baseball’s stimulus package. The fans of other teams have no reason to complain about us or the Red Sox or the teams that support the rest of baseball.”

“I’m really happy with our bullpen,” Hank said. “You got both Rivera and Soriano, then you got Chamberlain and [David] Robertson and so forth. I think Chamberlain is going to come back and have a big year.”

The Steinbrenners do put the money where their mouth is.

“The fans pay the bills, we owe it to ourselves and to them to put the best product out there,” Hank said. “If we couldn’t get Cliff Lee, I’m really happy about getting Soriano. I just wish Lee would have given Brian the chance to meet with him, but [Lee] was on a hunting trip. He’s got his own reasons.”

Hank knows it all starts with the rotation.

“Hopefully our starters will get the job done,” he said. “Hopefully Andy [Pettitte] will come back. He knows we want him back. It’s strictly up to him now. Even though he’s already got five rings, he’s the type, like Mo, like [Derek] Jeter, like [Jorge] Posada, he wants another one.

Steinbrenner believes the Yankees’ young pitchers will make a major contribution as well.

“We got those kids coming too, [Ivan] Nova more as a starter, and the others [including big right-hander Dellin Betances and lefty Manny Banuelos]. You never know, one or two of them may join the team,” Steinbrenner said. “I know some of our baseball people don’t agree with our other baseball people a lot of the time, but they all like Nova.”

“I think A.J. [Burnett] is going to come back and have at least the kind of year like he had two years ago. CC Sabathia is going to be great as usual. Phil Hughes, we’re expecting more big things.

“I say we have one of the top four teams in baseball, whether we end up being the best or not, we’ll see.”

Hank wasn’t done there…here’s some more of what he had to say…

“It really comes to avoiding injuries,” he said. “It’s like what happened to Boston last year. We had the injuries three years ago and, of course, nobody ever makes excuses for us. If the Red Sox have injuries it’s ‘Oh, the injuries.’ If the Rays have injuries, if the Phillies have injuries, it’s ‘the injuries.’

“If the Yankees have injuries, nobody in the media acknowledges that.

“It’s going to be typical American League East,” he said. “The Red Sox are going to be tough. We’re going to be tough. I still think the Rays will be tough. The Orioles and Blue Jays have improved.

“It’s the best division in baseball. With division play certain things are fair, some things are unfair. You wear each other out. The argument I made three years ago that I got attacked for — the absurdity of divisional play in any sport — was proven this year with the Seahawks. I don’t care that they won their first playoff game. They were 7-9 in a bad division. What are they doing in the playoffs?”

In the playoffs, the Yankees were shut down by the Rangers, but he is confident the offense will rebound.

“Our lineup is going to have its usual success,” Hank said.

And he knows that means Rodriguez carrying his weight.

“Alex will have a better year than last year, I’m sure of that,” Steinbrenner said of Rodriguez, who batted .190 against the Rangers in the ALCS. “He liked the feeling of what happened two years ago. He stayed because he wanted to win a championship as a Yankee. He ended up going from supposedly not being good in the post-season to becoming the new Mr. October. I think he wants to do that again. He’s very hungry.

“Of course it’s great having Derek back,” added Steinbrenner, who made no mention of the shortstop eventually moving to the outfield. “I had no doubts that we were going to be fair to him and offer him more than anybody else, which we should and we did. There’s no question he’s happy. He doesn’t want to go anywhere else. We weren’t trying to take advantage of that. We do have a budget and we’ve got to be somewhat careful.

“We’ve made all our players rich. Our guys do deserve it.”

In typical blunt Hank fashion, he added, “Some of them do and some of them don’t. Certainly Derek does. Certainly Mo does and I think Jorge will benefit by DH-ing. I’m looking forward to him having a good year and [Mark] Teixeira is still at his peak.”

Asked if he has any regrets about re-signing A-Rod to that 10-year, $275 million contract after the 2007 season, Steinbrenner said, “I’m still happy about it. We absolutely need his bat. Last year it became apparent, especially after the postseason performance when we won, that the pitchers just don’t want to pitch to him. So we must have done something right if this is the guy everybody wants to pitch around. They don’t want to give him anything to hit, despite our lineup. They still fear him. Obviously we picked the right guy.”

Now, let’s just see if Hank is around, and has something to say, come July of this year…

Hank Steinbrenner looks to Andy Pettitte when evaluating the risk of offering a seven-year contract to Cliff Lee.

The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are waiting for a decision from the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner, who is evaluating offers made by both teams before making a decision on where to sign.

“For somebody of that stature, it would certainly behoove him to be a Yankee, which would probably be for the rest of his career,” Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ co-chairman, said during a telephone interview Friday with The Associated Press. “I think that would be a great move for him but, of course I’m prejudiced.”

“Looking at how well Andy pitched up until this year and so forth, and he’s a lefty, the same kind of pitcher as Andy, I don’t really see a problem,” Steinbrenner said. “I think Cliff’s the kind of guy that can get it done and be effective for a long time. He’s a great pitcher.”

Then again, Hank was the one who thought it was a smart thing to sign A-Rod through the year 2587.

Hank Steinbrenner thinks Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees will agree to a new contract.

“I feel confident that Derek will remain with the Yankees, and my brother does, as well,” New York’s co-chairman said Tuesday night in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The Yankees resumed negotiations Tuesday with Jeter and his agent, Casey Close, a baseball official familiar with the discussion said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the team and Close didn’t make any announcements.

Neither the official nor Steinbrenner would discuss what took place directly between the sides in the talks, which were first reported by foxsports.com.

“I’m not going to get into who’s met who,” Steinbrenner said.

“We want to keep him. He’s very important,” Hank Steinbrenner said. “I certainly hope he remains with us and he certainly should.”

I have to say, it is interesting that Jeter’s agent is dealing with Brian Cashman and not the Brothers Steinbrenner and Randy Levine. That’s not how it went down with A-Rod when he was a free agent. In that case, Cashman was not involved in the talks and it was mostly Hank doing the dealing. And, I have to wonder if this also bothers Jeter – that he’s not considered to be special enough to deal directly with the owners. If Big Stein was in his prime, you know he would have been on the front line for this one – and not just leave it up to the G.M.

Hank Steinbrenner has a message as the New York Yankees negotiate to re-sign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

“As much as we want to keep everybody, we’ve already made these guys very, very rich, and I don’t feel we owe anybody anything monetarily,” the Yankees co-chairman said Tuesday. “Some of these players are wealthier than their bosses.”

New York has made a $45 million, three-year offer to Jeter, a baseball executive with knowledge of the proposal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because it wasn’t made public.

“We’ve encouraged him to test the market and see if there’s something he would prefer other than this,” general manager Brian Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com, without confirming the figure. “If he can, fine. That’s the way it works.”

Jeter is coming off a $189 million, 10-year contract that was second only to Alex Rodriguez’s deals of $252 million and $275 million, both over a decade.

“Negotiating is always a process,” Steinbrenner said. “I know he wants to stay. It’s going to come down to what’s fair for everybody considering all circumstances.”

This is starting to remind me of how the Red Sox treated Wade Boggs at the end of the 1992 season. Granted, Boggs was two years younger, then, than Jeter is now. But, he was coming off a bad season, etc. And, at this point, I would love to see Jeter sign with another team and win a World Championship with them and stick it to the Yankees.

Really, I have no issue with New York only offering three years. I understand the logic behind that. And, I understand them wanting to get this done at $15 million a season. But, I hate the hard line that Cashman and his boys are taking with this Yankees legend. Enough with the claims that you don’t want to do this through the press – and then issuing all these statements through the media anyway. And, enough with the take it or leave it threats. Make an offer, as they have, and allow the player to come back with a counter. And, work with them on getting this done in a manner that fosters good feelings on both sides.

You know, Pettitte may not come back. And, we know this is Posada’s last year. Now, Rivera’s contract is not a lock anymore. Add Jeter to that. There’s a great chance that the “Core Four” are done in New York. Again, I get that. Players get older, etc.

I just not sure how likeable this Yankees team is going to be when its face is going to be an aging A-Rod, Tex, Swisher, Granderson, Burnett, etc. Sure, there’s CC, Cano and Gardner. And, some people really like Phil Hughes. And, maybe Montero clicks. But, these guys are not Jeter/Rivera/Pettitte/Posada.

There’s really not much that can be done with Pettitte and Posada. But, you can bring back Rivera and Jeter for a few years. Yes, they’re older and not as productive as they were in the past. But, they’re future Yankees Hall of Famers and deserve more respect than the Yankees are showing them now.

Again, I’m not for giving them more years than makes sense. And, I’m not for grossly over-paying them as Hank did A-Rod in the past. I just want the Yankees to handle this process in a manner that shows the players some more respect and works out to everyone’s benefit. Is that too much to ask for here?

Hank Steinbrenner is already looking to the future.

Speaking Thursday at Yankee Stadium, the part-owner of the Yankees said he believes the Yankees will be defending their World Series championship come October.

“I think were doing great considering Andy’s (Pettitte) out and a couple of other problems,” Steinbrenner said. “Obviously, were in the toughest division by far in baseball. So its going to be a struggle down to the wire. We’d like to win the division, but I think we can be rest assured were going to get the playoffs, then its a matter of what we do from there.”

While Steinbrenner has been known to talk more freely in the past, he chose not to address the topic of Joe Girardi’s future as Yankee manager. Girardi’s contract expires at the end of the season and there has been speculation that he would be coveted by the Cubs to replace recently retired Lou Piniella.

Steinbrenner added that he expects Pettitte and injured slugger Alex Rodriguez to be fine as they work toward rejoining the team.

When asked about his father and what life has been like since his passing on July 13, Steinbrenner started his answer by saying he didn’t want to start tearing up, but talked about how it was a hard time for him because of his relationship with his father.

He also commended fans for the support they have shown him and his family since his fathers passing.

“Obviously the fans have been great,” Steinbrenner told the Daily News. “We got a lot of letters, condolence cards, sympathy cards from fans, probably more than anyone else.”

“We’d like to win the division, but I think we can be rest assured were going to get the playoffs, then its a matter of what we do from there.’

Sounds like Hankie figures the Yanks to back in to the dance via the ‘card – but doesn’t care as long as the win it all in the end. Then again, these days, in Yankeeland, should we even be concerned about what Hank cares about?

[Darryl] Strawberry was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of a baseball tournament on Randall’s Island that was sponsored by Verdero sporting goods, a Bronx-based company founded by Jorge Medina. The Verdero team beat Hank’s Yanks, 8-6. Both teams are 18-and-under.

Hank’s Yanks is a pet project of Steinbrenner’s oldest son Hank, and many of the teenage players come from disadvantaged backgrounds. When Yankees special adviser Ray Negron took some of the players to meet Hank Steinbrenner this past January at the team’s spring training complex in Tampa, Steinbrenner told Negron, “Do whatever we can to help.”

Negron said the team also represents an opportunity for players to be seen by major league talent evaluators. Longtime Yankee scout Cesar Presbott was at the game.

Despite George Steinbrenner’s tempestuous reign over the Bombers, he had a big heart – whether it was pouring money into charities, rehabilitating troubled players such as Strawberry, funding law-enforcement causes, or especially supporting children’s organizations. Before the start of the game, a photograph of The Boss was laid at the pitcher’s mound with a lit candle. Negron, Strawberry and former Yankee Roy White and Bronx borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. all gave tributes to the Yankee owner, who died of a heart attack last week at the age of 80.

…Do whatever we can to help…

Hankie gets a lot of heat for being the Billy Carter/Roger Clinton of the Big Stein family, and often. Just thought it was worth noting that he’s not all bad…and has a heart too.

Hank Steinbrenner thinks the New York Yankees are in a strong position to repeat as World Series champion due to the acquisition of pitcher Javier Vazquez and outfielder Curtis Granderson.

“The two trades that Brian did I was really pleased with and very proud of,” Steinbrenner. a team co-chairman, said Thursday. “I think that is going to make a big difference for us.”

“We needed another top-notch starter and got one,” Steinbrenner said.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who has started pre-spring training workouts at the team’s minor league complex, spent time Thursday with Hank Steinbrenner and his brother, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner.

“I asked him his opinion, and he said, ’It’s all about pitching,’” Hank Steinbrenner said of Jeter.

Jeter is entering the final season of a $189 million, 10-year contract. The Yankees have a policy of not negotiating new deals until after a player’s previous contract.

“We’ll get into all of that eventually, ” Steinbrenner said. “Jeter’s place in Yankee history is obvious, so I think you can pretty much assume from there.”

There was no word in the report if Hank Steinbrenner saw his shadow while doing this interview – signaling six more weeks of winter…

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry renewed his call for a salary cap on Wednesday after an off-season in which the New York Yankees added three free agents for $423.5 million.

Or, as Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said, “the Yankees have spent like the U.S. Congress.” That drew a quick response from Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

“Along with a few other teams, we’re basically baseball’s stimulus package,” he said.

New York thinks it has the right to spend after paying at least $110 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax last year.

“As long as we’re doing that and giving all this money to other teams in revenue sharing, a staggering amount, we should be able to spend on salaries what we want to,” Steinbrenner said. “Because of revenue sharing and because of the popularity nationwide, the Yankees are critical to baseball.”

I doubt even those who are not too crazy about the Hankster can argue with that.

Hank Steinbrenner is not guaranteeing that his New York Yankees will win the 2009 World Series. Still, the team co-chairman is optimistic heading into the start of spring training next week.

“Much more so than last year,” Steinbrenner said on Thursday. “I feel real confident going into this season.”

“The entire team is fired up with what we’ve done,” Steinbrenner said.

“The American League East is by far the best division in baseball,” Steinbrenner said. “The players can’t be thinking, `Look how good we are on paper.’ They’ve got to earn it in our division.”

The Yankees have been a focal point off the field this week after the release of former manager Joe Torre’s book “The Yankee Years.”

“I haven’t read it yet,” Steinbrenner said. “I’ll read it.”