Isiah Kiner-Falefa stoked tensions in the heated American League East by taking a shot at his former team.
A week after signing a one-year contract with the Red Sox, the ex-Yankees company man said he and his former Blue Jays teammates were rooting for New York to beat Boston in last year’s wild-card round to get an “easier matchup” in the Division Series. according to Boston Globe’s Tim Healey.
“We thought the other way around would be a better match for us [facing the Yankees],” Kiner-Falefa told reporters on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old Kiner-Falefa spent two polarizing seasons in New York — especially his first in 2022, when he was the team’s everyday shortstop before transitioning to a super-utility role behind Anthony Volpe.
After spending parts of the 2024 and 2025 campaigns with the Blue Jays and Pirates, he returned to Toronto ahead of his first World Series appearance since 1993.
While Toronto and New York tied for the highest record in the American League in 2025, the Blue Jays owned the tiebreaker after wiping the floor with their division rival during the regular season.
They wanted a chance to get back to the source, and that’s exactly what they got after the Bronx Bombers stormed back from a Game 1 loss to defeat the archrival Red Sox in three games.
The Jays laughed off the popular idea – “be careful what you wish for” – and completed a gentleman’s sweep of the Yankees, defeating them 34-19 in the ALDS.
Kiner-Falefa, who hit .162 with a pair of RBIs in 15 postseason games, is the latest ex-Yankee to foul the team after joining their biggest enemy.
In December, newly acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray explained that he was happy to be in “a place where it’s easy to hate the Yankees.”
Not long before, reigning AL Reliever of the Year Aroldis Chapman insisted he would never return to The Bronx — “Not even dead.”
Tension between the two rivals continues to escalate ahead of Opening Day, with the Yankees and Red Sox meeting for the first time this season April 21-23 at Fenway Park.
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