David Lennon: Former Yankee Isiah Kiner-Falefa stands by AL East perspective
Red Sox third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa throws to first in the third inning of a spring training baseball game on Feb. 27, 2026, in North Port, Fla. Credit: AP/Gerald Herbert
FORT MYERS, Fla. — It was the shot heard ‘round the American League East. Delivered by Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the former Yankee turned Blue Jay and now the newest member of the Red Sox.
Upon his February arrival at JetBlue Park, affectionately known as Fenway South, IKF bluntly announced how Toronto — the defending AL champs — preferred to face the Yankees rather than Boston last October.
The Jays got what they wanted, of course, and not only bounced their pinstriped pinatas from the playoffs, but outscored them 23-8 in the first two games of a Division Series that only went four.
So with the Yankees visiting their ancient rivals Wednesday, and IKF becoming the self-assigned point of the Sox’s spear, myself and another reporter approached him after batting practice to chat about dissing his former club. IKF, a straight shooter and stand-up guy, even during his worst times in the Bronx, gladly revisited the topic.
“They asked the question — I just gave the honest answer,” Kiner-Falefa said. “It is what it is. I love the guys over there. I have nothing bad to say about anybody over there. It was just a matchup thing. (Garrett) Crochet is an unbelievable pitcher and we did not want to face Crochet after he went eight innings against us (Sept. 24, 3 hits, 0 runs, 6 Ks). And we really felt like he had our number. He kind of had everybody’s number.”
Shortly after IKF’s opening salvo, one person who didn’t sound thrilled by the scouting report was his former manager Aaron Boone, who got a bit snippy at the start of camp when those initial comments were relayed to him. Boone conceded, “I guess he was right,” but then said it was a “little surprising to hear IKF say that.” Then Boone threw in a “whatever,” and “that’s fine.”
Back then, the ALDS defeat to the Jays — as well as losing the division on a tiebreaker despite winning 94 games — probably still felt a bit raw to Boone, even all those months later. But when it was brought up to him again before Wednesday’s game, the manager’s cooling-off period added new perspective.
“The more I thought about it though, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised,” Boone said. “Because IKF is very honest and real. And I don’t think he meant any slap at us. I frankly didn’t take it that way.”
The brief flare-up between rivals, however, just goes to show how sensitive the trip-wire can be in the ultra-competitive AL East. And this is a group of teams that aren’t in the best of moods after a season that ranged from lingering frustration to crushing disappointment.
The Blue Jays lost the World Series to the Dodgers after returning to the Rogers Centre with a 3-2 lead, and somehow failed to score the clinching run in Game 7 by the length of Kiner-Falefa’s big toe. The Yankees didn’t capitalize on a record $320 million payroll, and a third MVP for Aaron Judge, then were derided all winter by fans unhappy with GM Brian Cashman’s strategy of running it back with essentially the same personnel.
As for the Red Sox, they ended a four-year playoff drought, but losing to the Yankees in the Wild Card Series didn’t spur the winter spending spree the Fenway loyalists were clamoring for — namely getting a big bat to replace Alex Bregman. Instead, it was the Orioles who snapped up Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward while also bolstering the rotation with Shane Baz, Zach Eflin and Chris Bassitt.
From our seat, it’s still a Yankees-Blue Jays steel-cage match for the AL East crown, and Sox manager Alex Cora finds it amusing — but understandable — that the Bronx faithful took issue with Cashman’s RIB cloning of last year’s 94-win roster.
“Fan bases are tough,” Cora said Wednesday morning. “Their expectations are just like our fan base. They want to win championships. I got a lot of friends that are Yankees’ fans, and some of them are happy, some of them are upset.
“But at the end of the day, one of the things they always do — they’re in the dance. And that’s what you try to do, just get in the dance and see what happens.”
Nobody is better than the Yankees in that regard. Or even in the same universe when it comes to qualifying for October, as they’ve made the playoffs in 26 of the past 31 seasons. But 16 years without a World Series ring is a mind-numbing streak. You’d think the Yankees would’ve backed into a championship by this point, especially when the previously cursed Sox have collected four while the Bronx has only one since the fateful 2004 ALCS that forever flipped the script.
A year ago, the Yankees had MLB’s most dangerous offense and winning 94 games only got them to second place in the AL East. This season, the task shapes up to be even more difficult.
“It doesn’t feel like everything has to go right for these teams to be good,” Boone said.
And Kiner-Falefa again is thrust into the middle of it. The Blue Jays claimed him off waivers from the Pirates on Aug. 31 and he was amazed at how perfect that contact-driven offense functioned together down the stretch and through October. The Yankees were pummeled by them in that ALDS, and Toronto should have rode that group to the championship. Instead, the Jays missed grabbing their first ring in 32 years by the tiniest of margins.
“It’s whoever can get that edge,” Kiner-Falefa said. “Every inch counts in this division, so we’ll see.”
Could be the tightest, and fiercest AL East race we’ve seen in a while. And be careful what you wish for come October.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
