The Yankees received their $26.9 million 2008 luxury tax bill only last week, and they have already qualified for the 2009 tax, exceeding the tax threshold when they have signed less than half of their 40-man roster.

The Yankees have 14 players under contract for 2009, and the annual average values of their contracts total $186.35 million. The threshold over which tax must be paid will be $162 million next season. At 40 percent, the Yankees’ personal tax rate (for multiple excesses), they already owe $9.74 million.

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As the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers for only four years, Mark Attanasio is a mere babe in baseball. Like many players, he might not know what came before him. Baseball life, to Attanasio, began in 2005.

He could be excused, then, for not realizing the storm he might be creating when he invoked the inflammatory words “salary cap.”

Attanasio raised the incendiary issue in an e-mail interview with Bloomberg News when he was asked his reaction to the Yankees’ signing of three free agents for $423.5 million.

“At the rate the Yankees are going, I’m not sure anyone can compete with them,” Attanasio replied. “Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap.”

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In last year’s voting for the Hall of Fame, Jack Morris received the most votes he had gained in his nine years on the ballot. From the results in his first four years of eligibility, you would think he was some mediocre, at best, pitcher who didn’t rate his spot on the ballot.

“The first couple years it’s human nature,” Morris said, talking about his reaction to the early voting. “You wonder what went wrong. Did I make these guys mad? I got over that.”

When he played, mostly for the Detroit Tigers in the 1980s, Morris was not the friendliest guy in the clubhouse where most reporters were concerned. They respected his pitching ability and results, but they never voted him a “good guy” award.

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