The New York Yankees recently announced the most historic move in franchise history and it isn’t a player signing. Hal Steinbrenner chairman and managing general partner of Yankee Global Enterprises has made the announcement after years of internal discussion to finally remove the once pristine clean shaven policy of their franchise and allow their ball players to finally grow beards.

What a world we live in where the Yankees are finally acknowledging their outdated past and moving on to new heights with the franchise. Since the bane of their existence as an American League franchise they’ve always been known as the team to be on in baseball. A team that has kept its foundations and historic pristine in place for decades has made sure all their players kept up with the tradition of being neat and clean. The Yankees have always been that team from the likes of Babe Ruth to Dave Winfield to Derek Jeter all the way to Aaron Judge one thing has stayed the same and thats the policy of prestige. They’ve always represented the team of the upper class and bourgeoisie so since George Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973 he wanted to keep that foundation going. Steinbrenner was rooted in a military background and believed the most important way for team success was maintaining high professionalism on the field and representing a high sense of discipline and for that was never onboard with his players growing facial hair.

Are we witnessing the Yankees’ downfall because of the no-beard policy? Absolutely not. If you think a premier baseball team’s decline can be quantified by something as trivial as a grooming rule, you’re way off the mark. The real issue is that the Yankees are no longer the powerhouse they were under George Steinbrenner, who dominated the free-agent market year after year with the stroke of a pen. Hal Steinbrenner, on the other hand, operates under a different philosophy—one that rejects the idea that championships can simply be bought. It’s a complete 180 from his father’s approach, and whether that shift is helping or hurting the franchise is up for debate.

All of this debacle can be traced back to Juan Soto not signing with the Yankees. Now, of course, the no-beard policy never affected Soto—he’s always been a clean-shaven guy. But the bigger issue is that this outdated rule could be a legitimate factor in preventing players from signing with the Yankees.

At the end of the day, money talks. When a hefty contract is on the table, most players will take the bigger paycheck. But when it comes down to choosing between shaving their beard and taking a contract worth a few million dollars less, more often than not, players might opt to keep their beard and play for a team that doesn’t police their appearance.

It’s not crazy to say that for some players, their beard—wild or well-groomed—is part of their brand. Going to the Yankees, whether via free agency or trade, forces them to conform to a standard that most of the league doesn’t care about. Hal’s main concern was not wanting to be limited in signing players over something as trivial as facial hair. He wants the Yankees to operate on the same playing field as the other 29 teams and finally let players be themselves—without unnecessary restrictions.