New Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray lets his true feelings on the Yankees be known

“I say, what did factor into my decision to come to Boston is it's, it's, it feels good to me to go to a place now where you know what, it's easy to hate the Yankees, right?” Gray said via MLB Network. “It's easy to go out and and have that rivalry and go and go in with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge. I appreciate the challenge. I accept the challenge. But this time around is just go out and be yourself. Don't try to be anything other than yourself. And if people don't like it, it is what it is. I am who I am and I'm okay with that. 

New York, it just wasn't a good situation for me. Wasn't a great setup for me and my family. I never wanted to go there in the first place, when that was kind of happening, when we were in Oakland [Athletics] and, you know, I was getting traded, that was a long time ago. I never wanted to go there. So then I was there, and it just kind of like it just it just didn't really work for kind of who I am.”

Gray spent a season and a half with the Yankees (2017-18) after being traded from the Athletics, and went 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA in 41 games (34 starts). 

Sonny Gray’s eagerness for a new rivalry could bode well for the Red Sox

Gray had another solid season for the Cardinals in 2025, going 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA and striking out 201 batters (tied for 11th in baseball) in 180.2 innings. Gray led the National League in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 5.29. 

Having the runner-up in the Cy Young voting gave the Red Sox the 12th-best starters' ERA in the big leagues (3.92) last season, and adding Gray could help them have one of the better rotations heading into next year. 

Gray and his newfound eagerness to perform against the Yankees could get him back to the form that helped him finish as Cy Young runner-up in 2023.

The Red Sox showing a willingness to spend on a big bat to better their offense as they try to give the reigning American League Champion Blue Jays a run for their money.