BOSTON — The bad blood between Sonny Gray and the New York Yankees is now out in the open.
The veteran pitcher held nothing back Tuesday during his introductory press conference with the Boston Red Sox. Gray ripped into his former team and made it clear he never wanted to be a Yankee in the first place.
“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. “It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead.”
The Red Sox acquired the 36-year-old right-hander from the St. Louis Cardinals last week. Gray waived his no-trade clause to make the deal happen. St. Louis is sending $20 million to Boston to offset his salary.
Gray spent parts of two seasons with the Yankees after Oakland traded him to New York just before the 2017 deadline. The organization gave up three prospects to land him. But the marriage soured quickly.
A rocky tenure in the Bronx
The three-time All-Star was blunt about his time in pinstripes. He admitted the Yankees were never his preferred destination.
“It just wasn’t a good situation for me. It wasn’t a great setup for me and my family,” Gray said. “I never wanted to go there in the first place. When that was happening, and we were in Oakland and getting traded, that was a long time ago. I never wanted to go there.”
Sonny Gray posted a 4.51 ERA across 41 games and 34 starts with the Yankees. He went 15-16 overall. The team demoted him from the rotation in August 2018 after he surrendered seven runs to the Orioles.
His home-road splits told a troubling story. Gray owned a respectable 3.62 ERA away from New York. But at Yankee Stadium, that number ballooned to 7.71.
Then-general manager Brian Cashman publicly announced plans to trade Gray after the 2018 season. He said the Yankees could not tap into the pitcher’s full potential.
Different story since leaving New York Yankees
Gray signed a three-year extension with Cincinnati after the trade. He immediately regained his form. The 2019 campaign earned him an All-Star nod and a seventh-place finish in Cy Young voting.
Stints with the Twins and Cardinals followed. Gray finished second in the 2023 AL Cy Young race behind Gerrit Cole while pitching for Minnesota.
Since leaving New York, Gray has gone 66-50 with a 3.51 ERA in 184 starts. He added two more All-Star selections to his resume.
“I do appreciate my time there,” Gray acknowledged. “I do feel like the last seven years of my career, my life and everything, I’ve been a better baseball player, husband, everything from having that experience and going through that.”
He then offered a pointed assessment of his struggles in the Bronx.
“When I immediately left, I was just like, you know what? I just wasn’t myself,” Gray said. “And I don’t know what led to that or anything, but I just didn’t feel like I was allowed to, ‘Hey, just go out there and be Sonny, like, go out there and just be yourself.'”
Not the first former Yankee to slam the team
Gray joins a growing list of former Yankees who have blasted the organization after leaving.
Closer Aroldis Chapman made similar remarks earlier this fall. The flame-thrower spent parts of seven seasons in the Bronx before finding new life with Boston in 2025. He posted a dominant 1.17 ERA with 32 saves for the Red Sox.
“No way, not even dead,” Chapman said on the Swing Completo podcast when asked about returning to New York. “If I were told that I was being traded to New York, I’d pack my things and go home. I’ll retire right on the spot if that happens. I’m not crazy. Never again.”
Chapman blamed the front office for his frustrations. He said he got along well with teammates and manager Aaron Boone.
The rivalry keeps heating up
The Yankees and Red Sox added fresh fuel to their storied rivalry this October. New York eliminated Boston in a thrilling wild card round. Rookie pitcher Cam Schlittler delivered a historic performance in the decisive Game 3.
The Massachusetts native struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings. He became the first pitcher in MLB postseason history with at least eight shutout frames, 12 strikeouts and no walks. Schlittler later admitted the win felt personal after Red Sox fans targeted his family on social media.
Gray will face his former team plenty in 2026. The Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park for a three-game series from April 21-23. That matchup should draw plenty of attention after these comments.
The right-hander said he welcomes the challenge ahead.
“I like the challenge, I appreciate the challenge, I accept the challenge,” Gray said. “But this time around, it’s just go out and be yourself.”
He finished the 2025 season with a 14-8 record and 4.28 ERA for St. Louis. Gray logged 32 starts and 180 innings. He led the National League with a 5.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Gray joins ace Garrett Crochet in what should be a formidable Boston rotation. The two are among just five pitchers to record at least 200 strikeouts in each of the last two seasons.
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