Yankees’ Boone responds to Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s fighting words

Aaron Boone is not interested in trading trash talk with the IKF.

The Yankees manager admitted he was a little surprised. Isiah Kiner-Falefa said the Toronto Blue Jays prefer the Yankees as their ALDS opponent over the Boston Red Sox.

But Boone said the infielder’s admission didn’t really bother him.

“I guess he was right,” Boone said. “It’s hardly surprising to hear the IKF say that, but it doesn’t matter. It’s very good.”

The Yankees beat the Red Sox in three games in last year’s Wild Card round to advance to the ALDS. Toronto then defeated the Yankees in four games en route to the American League pennant.

Kiner-Falefa was on the Blue Jays roster last year, but has since signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox.

“We definitely felt like (Boston) was a tougher game for us,” Kiner-Falefa said this week, specifically pointing to Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet as a factor. “So once we saw the (Yankees), we were a lot happier. It was definitely a topic.”

Kiner-Falefa spent two years with the Yankees from 2022 to 2023, serving as the primary shortstop during the first of those seasons before transitioning to a utility role during the second.

He is the latest Red Sox player to take on the AL East rival Yankees in recent months.

In June, rookie right-hander Hunter Dobbins told the Boston Herald that he would “retire” before playing for the Yankees. Dobbins said in that interview that his father, a die-hard Red Sox fan, was drafted twice by the Yankees – a claim that was later disproven.

Dobbins has since been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.

And in December, veteran right-hander Sonny Gray said the Yankees were part of the reason he agreed to a trade with the Red Sox this offseason.

“It makes me feel good to go to a place now where, you know what, it’s easy to hate the Yankees, right?” said Gray, who Boston acquired in a separate deal with the Cardinals.

“It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge.”

Gray spent parts of two seasons with the Yankees from 2017-18, going 15-16 with a 4.51 ERA.

“I never wanted to go there in the first place,” Gray said – a claim that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has since refuted.

All the chatter caught the attention of former Yankees reliever Dellin Betances, who is now a studio analyst for YES Network.

“Boston players want smoke early,” Betances wrote on social media. “It should be a fun season.”