TAMPA — Hal Steinbrenner is on the hook for $114 million over the next five years to Alex Rodriguez, so the third baseman’s most recent alleged ties to performance-enhancing drugs have caught the attention of the Yankees owner.
“It’s a concern, but it’s out of our hands,” Steinbrenner said yesterday at the Yankees’ minor league complex. “We will cooperate with MLB any way we can, in any way we’re asked to, but other than that, there’s not much to say. I don’t know any more than you do.”
The league is investigating Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic in Miami, after the Miami New Times obtained documents containing names of numerous players including Rodriguez, and whether its owner, Anthony Bosch, provided banned substances.
Rodriguez, through spokesmen, has denied any connection with Bosch or the clinic.
But these days, Rodriguez’s future is just one of many uncertainties surrounding the Yankees.
After an offseason in which the organization devoted considerable funds to 2013, but not much beyond that, questions remain about what the payroll is going to look like going forward.
Steinbrenner did say yesterday there is an interest in signing Robinson Cano, a free agent after this season, to a long-term deal.
“There’s been a conversation or two, but we’ll get into that at a later date,” Steinbrenner said. “He’s obviously been a great Yankee and I hope he’s here his entire career.”
Cano, a Scott Boras client and one of the top members of next year’s free agent class, won’t come cheap, because the big-name agent almost always takes his clients to free agency.
Steinbrenner disagreed again with the idea the Yankees haven’t spent as freely as in years past.
“What bothers me is when we’re portrayed as seeming like we haven’t done anything in the offseason when we’ve signed three or four of the top free agents,” Steinbrenner said. “I think we did our fair share in the offseason. We have a similar payroll to last year which shows we want to win.”
But he’s counting the re-signing of Hiroki Kuroda, Ichiro Suzuki, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera — the last two of whom were not going anywhere — in that group of free agents. Also, the Yankees lost Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Eric Chavez and Raul Ibanez to the open market and never got into sweepstakes for the likes of Josh Hamilton and Zack Grienke.
He called the idea the team is now spendthrift “a little disappointing.”
“There was nothing cheap about [Hiroki] Kuroda’s contract or [Andy] Pettitte’s contract,” Steinbrenner said. “All I can assure the fans is we are always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year.”
Steinbrenner repeated his desire to get payroll down to $189 million by next year, but not at all costs.
“Is that our goal next year? Yes, to be at that number,” he said. “But as I’ve said from the beginning, that depends on some of our young players stepping up and getting the job done. That has to happen. Or it’s going to be difficult.”
Steinbrenner added he liked the acquisitions of Travis Hafner, and Kevin Youkilis.
“I’ve always liked Kevin,” he said. “He always seemed like a good leader, a hard worker and very enthusiastic. He loves the game.”
As for the roster, Steinbrenner said the team needs another right-handed hitter who can play the outfield, and echoed the sentiments of much of the rest of the organization in saying it’s not too old.
“I think the one thing we get criticized for a lot is one of the things — assuming we can stay away from injuries — I do like, which is the age,” Steinbrenner said. “I like the experience. There’s no doubt we have some older players and older players are usually more prone to injuries than others. That’s always a concern.”
Overall, Steinbrenner said he believes the Yankees are capable of winning a World Series.
“I like our team,” he said. “We definitely have a championship-caliber team, but where we end up in October is anybody’s guess.”
dan.martin@nypost.com