FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox have not played a game yet. They have not thrown a competitive pitch or swung a bat in a spring training exhibition. But they are already getting under the skin of Yankees fans in ways that feel very intentional.
It started with the words. Then it was the trade. Both arrived within 48 hours. And together, they form a one-two combination that landed squarely on the Bronx.
The first punch came from a familiar face. The second came from a familiar name. Both are now wearing Red Sox uniforms. And both have a direct connection to the Yankees organization.
IKF says the Blue Jays viewed the Yankees as the easier out
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who signed a one-year deal with Boston this offseason, showed up to Red Sox camp in Fort Myers on Tuesday and wasted no time stirring the pot.
The former Yankees infielder told Tim Healey of The Boston Globe that the Toronto Blue Jays were thrilled when the Red Sox were eliminated in the 2025 AL Wild Card Series. Not because they disliked Boston. But because they believed the Yankees would be the easier matchup in the ALDS.
“One-hundred percent. We thought it was a better matchup for us the other way,” Kiner-Falefa said, referring to the Yankees. “We were watching that game and we were watching Crochet dice up. We definitely felt like it was a tougher matchup for us, so once we saw the other team, we were a lot happier.”
He pointed specifically to a Sept. 24 game when Boston’s Garrett Crochet struck out six Blue Jays over eight shutout innings. That performance left a mark on Toronto’s clubhouse. They wanted no part of that pitching staff in October.
The Blue Jays got their wish. They drew the Yankees in the ALDS and won the series three games to one. Toronto exploded offensively at Rogers Centre with back-to-back blowouts in Games 1 and 2, highlighted by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s first postseason grand slam in franchise history. The Yankees staved off elimination with a 9-6 win in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. But the Blue Jays closed them out with a 5-2 victory in Game 4.
As for Kiner-Falefa’s own contribution in that series? He went 0-for-6 with a strikeout in a utility role.
The Durbin trade adds another layer of frustration
If Kiner-Falefa’s comments were the verbal jab, the Caleb Durbin trade was the body shot.
Two days before IKF’s remarks, the Red Sox acquired Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers in a six-player deal. Durbin, 25, finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2025 after slashing .256/.334/.387 with 11 home runs, 25 doubles, 53 RBI and 18 stolen bases across 136 games.
The catch? Durbin was a Yankees farmhand until 2024, when Brian Cashman included him in the package sent to Milwaukee to acquire closer Devin Williams. Williams pitched just 22 games for the Yankees in 2025 before being traded to the Mets at the deadline. Durbin, meanwhile, became a productive everyday player for the Brewers.
Now he is a Red Sox third baseman. Boston also received Anthony Seigler in the deal, a former Yankees first-round pick from the 2018 MLB Draft. The cost? Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton and Shane Drohan. That is a bag of spare parts for a near-Rookie of the Year.
“We really like a lot of what Caleb brings to the table: strong defender, strong bat-to-ball skills, really versatile right-handed hitter,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said.
A pattern that is getting harder to ignore
Kiner-Falefa is not the first new Red Sox player to take a shot at the Yankees this offseason. Sonny Gray showed up to his introductory press conference wearing a 2007 World Series hat (which he later admitted he had just purchased) and told Boston media that he had never wanted to be a Yankee. That claim was contradicted by a resurfaced 2018 press conference in which he said the opposite.
It is a pattern. Players arrive in Boston and immediately learn the fastest way to win over the fan base. Trash the Yankees. It is low-hanging fruit. And it works.
For Kiner-Falefa, the comments carry extra weight because he actually wore the pinstripes. He played for the Yankees in 2022 and 2023. He hit .261 in his first season but was famously benched during the 2022 ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians due to defensive inconsistencies. He was eventually traded and has bounced around the AL East since.
The Bronx has a long memory
Yankees fans do not forget. They remember IKF’s errors. They remember losing the ALDS to Toronto. They remember watching Durbin flourish in Milwaukee while the return for Devin Williams amounted to very little.
The 2025 Red Sox finished 89-73, five games behind the Yankees and Blue Jays in the AL East. They won the Wild Card but lost in the first round. Now they are loading up with ex-Yankees and talking trash before a single pitch has been thrown.
The Yankees open spring training this week in Tampa. Pitchers and catchers reported Wednesday. The season opener against the Giants on Netflix is March 25. The first meeting with Boston comes March 4 in Fort Myers.
By then, the words will have settled. But the rivalry? That is only getting started.
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