While Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was peppered with questions about Aaron Judge's future in pinstripes, he was also asked about the rest of the roster and whether or not the Bombers are prepared to be aggressive before the MLB trade deadline.

Steinbrenner replied frankly, saying that he hasn't been thinking about that just yet. But fret not, that time will soon come.

"We’re just going to have to sit down in the war room here in Tampa as we always do a week or two before and really start hashing out what needs to change if we believe we’re not good enough," he told reporters via Zoom on Wednesday. "We’ll go through that process as we do every year.”

Steinbrenner didn't divulge on what exactly needs fixing on his roster, as you'd expect. But he did mention a specific area that always needs improvements.

"You can never have enough pitching," he explained. "We’ve obviously had some injuries in the bullpen. But at the same time, we have [Jonathan] Loaisiga coming back. [Zack] Britton after him. So we’re going to have some additions even before the trade deadline with Loaisiga, if all goes well."

Here's what else Steinbrenner touched on:

Joey Gallo's Struggles

Entering the day, Gallo is slashing .165/.277/.325 with a .654 OPS as a Yankee in 124 games. The struggle has been real.

But Steinbrenner said support for him to work through that will change.

"Look, he’s grinding it out," he said. "He’s got the support of all of us, including his teammates, and it’s been difficult for him there’s no doubt about it. But there’s more baseball to be had this season. We’ll see. I still expect great things out of him.”

Blown Away By Success

Steinbrenner knew the Yankees were set up to make a run at the playoffs once again in 2022. But a start of this caliber, owning the best record in MLB, wasn't on his mind.

“I knew we had a team that was capable of great things, but I’m not going to sit here and say that I absolutely knew they’d be off to the historic start that they are. This is a special team, and it’s not just what happens on the field itself. Year after year, we’ve always had good clubhouses but this one, the leadership, the accountability, the support they have for each other. This is a real special group of guys.”

Houston On The Radar

The Astros have won the regular season series thus far against the Yanks, and no doubt have given them the most trouble. Steinbrenner is well aware of that, but he's not frustrated with how things have gone so far.

"We all need to be concerned about Houston. They’re a very good team. The games we’ve played so far have been close games for the most part. It’s going to be a challenge but it’s going to be a challenge for them, too. Make no mistake.”

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