Isiah Kiner-Falefa clears up Yankees 'criticism' after Red Sox reporter misled fans

Former Toronto Blue Jays infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa wasn't dissing his former club, the New York Yankees, when he revealed in February that last year's Jays were happy to see the Boston Red Sox lose in the American League Wild Card Series.

What Kiner-Falefa clearly said during the still-accessible interview (see below) was that Toronto didn't want to face Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet in the ALDS, a fact that Kiner-Falefa was forced to clarify during a recent follow-up interview with The New York Post's Greg Joyce.

Of course, this after-the-fact explanation from Kiner-Falefa wouldn't have been necessary had he not been originally misquoted by The Boston Globe's Tim Healey, who incorrectly claimed that Kiner-Falefa had described the 2025 Yankees as an "easier matchup" than the Red Sox team New York defeated in the ALWC.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa was misquoted by a Red Sox reporter, leading to fake Yankees beef

Skipping ahead to the 5:09 mark during Kiner-Falefa's original interview (below) will provide the goods.

Healey's misquote, it should be noted, happened during an offseason in which it became totally en vogue to bash the Yankees as soon as you signed with the Red Sox.

New Red Sox who had previously played for the Yankees weren't exempt from this unspoken "requirement" (wink-wink) — just ask Sonny Gray, who fanned the flames of this trend at the start of the offseason by revealing that he never wanted to play for the Yankees, in the first place.

Gray's admission came back to bite him almost immediately, with Yankees GM Brian Cashman promptly outing Gray as a liar, explaining how Gray expressed his admiration and desire to play for the Yankees both before and after he signed.

A few weeks later, Willson Contreras made a point during his introductory Red Sox presser to remind reporters that he's "not going to like the Yankees," as if someone had asked.

In light of the Contreras and Gray pressers, when Kiner-Falefa signed with Boston in February, it almost felt written in the script that he'd spew some half-hearted anti-Yankees propaganda during his introduction.

And when IKF didn't, but merely approached the notion, Healey's assuming mind took things and ran with them.

If you're looking for a scapegoat for this situation who isn't Healey, there's always Hunter Dobbins. The former Red Sox right-hander made it kind of cool to be cringey about the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry last season when he told the press that he'd refuse to play for the Yankees if they acquired him because of a lie his dad told him as a kid.

Regular season baseball begins this month, folks! The substantive drama is right around the corner.