Sonny Gray on Red Sox: ‘Easy to Go to a Place Where It’s Easy to Hate the Yankees’

New Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray, acquired from St. Louis last week, is making himself right at home with the team’s fan base by immediately blasting Boston’s biggest rival.

“It’s easy to go to a place now where it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” Gray told the Boston press core on Tuesday, according to The Boston Globe.

Gray was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Yankees at the 2017 MLB trade deadline. While he held his own in his time with the franchise in 2017 (3.72 ERA in 11 regular-season starts), the right-hander posted a 4.90 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with the Yankees in 2018, and New York dealt Gray to the Cincinnati Reds in the ensuing offseason.

Gray earned an All-Star nod in his first season with the Reds and has earned such honors three times in his career (2015, 2019 and 2023). Last season, Gray posted a 4.28 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 201 strikeouts in 180.2 innings pitched (32 starts) with the Cardinals.

Gray, who said that he “never wanted to go” to the Yankees, expressed he’s “more Boston than any other place” and that his decision to waive his no-trade clause was an “immediate yes” because the Red Sox “have a chance to win the World Series.”

Boston acquired the 36-year-old Gray on Nov. 25 for left-hander Brandon Clarke, right-hander Richard Fitts and either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Gray is entering the final season of a three-year, $75 million deal that includes a mutual option for 2027. He joins a Red Sox starting rotation that includes 2025 American League Cy Young Award runner-up Garrett Crochet and emerging right-hander Brayan Bello (3.35 ERA in 29 appearances/28 starts in 2025). As a whole, Boston’s rotation posted a collective 3.92 ERA last season, good for 12th in MLB.

The Red Sox (89-73) went 9-4 against the Yankees in the 2025 regular season, but New York returned the favor in the postseason, defeating Boston in the wild-card round.

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