Luke Voit takes strange snipes at Yankees in first Padres interview

Former New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit needed a fresh start, especially after the Yanks opted to add Anthony Rizzo a second time in the same eight-month period.

Twice, they looked at Voit manning first and said, “…Yeah, we’ve got to upgrade here.” Last summer, they kept Voit and essentially refused to use him, even as he could’ve DH’d and helped the team down the stretch.

We get it. He had to go, and while we have no hard feelings, we completely understand if he’s feeling a spot of resentment (or, uh, more than just a spot).

Voit opened up to San Diego’s Ben and Woods this week on 97.3 The Fan, and while he dropped all the typical quotes about how glad he was to be shipped to another contender (all he’s ever known), he did drop a few disparaging remarks about the Yankees lineup — including one shot in which he accurately described himself.

Last Friday, the Yankees dropped Voit off in San Diego in exchange for 2020 supplemental first-round pick RHP Justin Lange as part of an offseason rededication to athleticism and defense around the diamond.

Too late for Voit, who expressed resentment of the “big donkeys” in the Yankees lineup during his days in the Boogie Down.

Ex-Yankees 1B Luke Voit frustrated by “big donkeys” in the lineup

Does … does Luke Voit not know how much a part of the donkey ethos he, himself, was?

We’re kidding, of course, and Voit had to be tongue-and-cheeky here, too. After all, the problem wasn’t that he and the other donkeys existed. It was the redundancy of it all, burly bruiser after burly bruiser instead of switching things up. In essence, Voit is excited to be unique in San Diego instead of just another face in the crowd in New York.

The rest of the negative energy in the interview clip was reserved for the shaving rule, which Voit agreeably laughed off, saying, “I ain’t shaving every two days anymore” while agreeing with a host who claimed he didn’t understand the rule. Voit then deflected, claiming his own beard “sucked anyway,” but it was clear he found the whole thing a little silly — and guess what? It is!

It’ll always be all love for Yankee fans and Voit, even if his finest moment came in a Wild Card Game that immediately preceded a collapse against the Red Sox and his greatest season came in an empty ballpark.

Hopefully, San Diego appreciates our exiled donkey.

Voit certainly has a lot of slugging to do to prove San Diego can be a better “hitter’s park” than Yankee Stadium, though. Not sure where that comes from.

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