BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 21: Ranger Suárez #55 of the Boston Red Sox speaks during a press conference announcing his contract agreement with the Boston Red Sox on January 21, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
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Even as the New York Yankees’ rivalry with the Boston Red Sox surpasses a century of heated matchups with countless players involved, the competition is continuously revived by each new player that joins one side or the other.
Last year, Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler, who is originally from Massachusetts, stoked the rivalry by uttering some choice words for the Red Sox’s home city as he left the mound during a matchup. And the Red Sox’s trade addition, Sonny Gray, didn’t hesitate before adding his own viewpoint to the competition.
“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, right?” Gray, who used to pitch for the Yankees, said during a video conference after joining the Red Sox, according to MLB.com’s Brian Murphy. “It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge.”
Boston Red Sox’s Addition Ranger Suarez Never Preferred The New York Yankees
For many newcomers to one of the American League East division rivalries or the other, it doesn’t take long to fire some shots. And now the latest star player to join the Red Sox, southpaw Ranger Suarez, has thrown in his own update on the longstanding rivalry.
During Suarez’s introductory press conference with the team, his agent revealed that the pitcher had favored his new team over the Yankees ever since he was a child.
“Scott Boras said he always knew Ranger Suarez had an interest in Boston because Suarez told him he used to watch Yankees-Red Sox games as a kid growing up in Venezuela — and while his friends cheered for the Yankees, he cheered for the Red Sox,” MassLive’s Christopher Smith reported.
Boston Red Sox Add Long-Time Fan Ranger Suarez With $130 Million Contract
While some players seem to hone their loyalty only after they join either the Yankees or Red Sox, and others, like Schlitter, evidently switch sides after becoming directly involved in it, Suarez has a surprising claim to long-time allegiance to the Red Sox camp.
And perhaps that had something to do with Suarez’s decision to join the Red Sox this winter. With a career 3.38 ERA, 119 starts and some clutch playoff performances across his eight-year career, he surely had some wide-ranging interest, perhaps even from the Yankees.
But even though he has leaned toward the Red Sox in their rivalry matchups for years, it’s more likely that the five-year, $130 million contract Boston offered was the deciding factor in his decision to join the team.