It seems as if former New York Yankees relief pitcher Adam Ottovino is still a bit sour after the team traded him to the Boston Red Sox back in 2021. The Yankees don’t normally execute deals with rivals, and Ottavino mentioned how odd it was when the deal evidently went down.
“I think that’s what surprised me the most today, just that it was this type of trade,” said Ottavino. “I feel like I’m going to end up a trivia question one day. When [Yankees general manager Brian] Cashman told me Red Sox, that was not the name I expected. I knew I could be traded, but I definitely didn’t expect that. It’s kind of fun to be a part of something a little out of the ordinary.”
The Bombers were simply trying to get rid of his salary since the team owed him $8 million for the 2021 season. Boston needed a bit more support at the back end of their bullpen, and luckily for them, Ottavino fit the bill nicely.
Last season, he posted a 4.21 ERA over 62 innings, recording a 40% ground ball rate and 73.3% left on-base percentage. While Ottavino has struggled the past few seasons after a dominant campaign with the Yankees back in 2019, he is preparing to join the Bombers’ crosstown rival, the New York Mets.
At 36 years old, Ottavino will play an important part in their bullpen, but he took a family shot at his former team on Tuesday, indicating it was great to join the “good team in New York.”
"I get to sleep in my own bed. It's great that there's a good team in New York."
Adam Ottavino on returning to NY and joining the Mets: pic.twitter.com/bXFXXsxz5K
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 15, 2022
“I get to sleep in my own bed. It’s great that there’s a good team in New York.”
Otto would be smart to take a look at the standings from last season and where the Mets landed. His current squad failed to make the postseason, and despite the Yankees being knocked out in the Wild Card by Boston, neither team justified the lofty expenditures they accrued during the 2021 off-season.