Former New York Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray appears to be changing the narrative on his time in the Bronx.
The Boston Red Sox landed Gray last week in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. As part of the deal, the Cardinals agreed to eat $20 million of Gray’s remaining salary.
Gray, who played one and a half seasons with the Yankees, spoke to reporters on Tuesday for the first time as a Red Sox player. The three-time All-Star expressed gratitude about finally being on a team where he can openly “hate” the Yankees. Gray also claimed he had “never wanted” to become a Yankee.
“It feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” Gray told reporters. “New York 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.”
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The comments run in contrast to what he said about donning the pinstripes in 2017. After the Yankees acquired the Cy Young finalist in a trade with the Oakland Athletics, Gray stated that he “couldn’t be happier” about the move.
It’s easy to understand why Gray has disdain for his time with the Yankees. He was touted as the team’s next ace in 2017 after developing into a budding star in Oakland. Instead, Gray had the worst tenure of his career in New York, posting an ERA of 4.51 and a WHIP of 1.42 across 41 games (34 starts).
Gray was hard on himself during that time, as he failed to meet the lofty expectations fans had for him. He was eventually traded to the Cincinnati Reds after just one full season in New York. He eventually earned All-Star nods during his time with the Reds and later the Minnesota Twins before ending up on the Cardinals in 2024.
