Gray: With BoSox, 'It's easy to hate the Yankees'

""It just wasn't a good situation for me," Gray told reporters Tuesday. "It wasn't a great setup for me and my family. I never wanted to go there in the first place.""

""What did factor into my decision to come to Boston -- it feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it's easy to hate the Yankees," he said. "It's easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge.""

""When that was happening, and we were in Oakland and getting traded -- that was a long time ago -- I never wanted to go (to New York)," Gray said. "So then I was there, and it just didn't really work for who I am. ... I just wasn't myself. I just didn't feel like I was allowed to go out there and be Sonny.""

Sonny Gray waived his no-trade clause to complete a trade from the Cardinals to the Red Sox. Boston added Gray to a starting rotation that lacked depth during the postseason. Gray characterized his time in New York as an uncomfortable fit and said he never wanted to go there originally. The rivalry with the Yankees was a motivating factor in his decision to join Boston, where he expects to compete with full force. Gray posted a 4.51 ERA during 41 games with the Yankees in 2017–2018 and holds a 3.58 ERA across a 13-year career.

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