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Yankees Had Significant Reason For Changing Anti-Facial Hair Policy

Originally posted on The Spun | By Kameron Duncan | Last updated Feb 21, 2025 1:29 PM ET

This year's version of the New York Yankees was already going to look different. Juan Soto left to sign a lucrative contract in the same city with the Mets, and the Yankees responded by trading for a former MVP in Cody Bellinger. They also added a top starting pitcher in Max Fried, but the Yankees will also have a new look - literally - following the end of a long-standing policy.

Hal Steinbrenner announced on Friday that the Yankees would be ending the policy that prohibits players from wearing beards, a policy put in place by his father Hal when he took over as owner.

According to ESPN's Jorge Castillo, the decision was made partly due to players refusing to come to the Yankees, while knowing they would be forced to shave beards or long hair.

ESPN's Jeff Passan corroborated that report, noting that several players and individuals of influence within the Yankee organization brought up the issue.

High-ranking Yankees officials, including owner Hal Steinbrenner, spoke with a number of players and former players over the past week as they considered changing their facial-hair policy, sources said, and this was a subject that consistently came up in those conversations. https://t.co/rVj6A1yzmR
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 21, 2025

The Yankees could look like a different team before spring training, as some players will grow back beards that they had before coming to New York. Others will find it valuable to express themselves in a new way if they haven't had the chance to do so while playing in Major League Baseball.

“Winning was the most important thing to my father,” Hal Steinbrenner said on Friday in Tampa, at the Yankees' spring training facility.

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 11: Managing general partner and co-chairperson Hal Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees looks on during a news conference introducing Masahiro Tanaka (not pictured) to the media on February 11, 2014 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)Jim McIsaac/Getty Images.

“If somebody came and told him that they were very sure this could affect us getting the players we want to get – all we’re trying to every offseason is put ourselves in the best position to get a player that we’re trying to get. If something like this would detract from that or lessen our chances, I don’t know, I think he might be a little more apt to do the change that I did than people think, because it was about winning.”

The change has been made, and it will allow previously bearded players like Devin Williams and Gerrit Cole to reconsider their facial hair options. Williams, who was traded to the Yankees ahead of this season, arrived at spring training with a beard and shaved it before heading to on field workouts.

We'll see if any players who refused to sign in New York think about heading there now after the decades-old policy has been done away with.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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