Adam Ottavino spoke to reporters on Tuesday after signing with the Mets, and expressed his happiness for being back in his home city, where he spent two seasons with the Yankees before being traded to the Red Sox after the 2020 campaign.
During his talk with reporters, many thought he might have taken a shot at his former team, saying, "It's great that a good team is in New York."
Many have coined the Mets as the new Evil Empire of the city thanks to the free-spending Steve Cohen, who looks much more like George Steinbrenner than George's son Hal in the Bronx, whose Yankees seem to be focusing on much more marginal improvements this winter. But Ottavino was "visibly upset" that his comments were interpreted in that manner, per Mike Puma of the New York Post, and wanted to clear the air.
"Those are my friends over there," Ottavino told the Post. "I would have gone back there. There is nothing to it."
Ottavino was brilliant for the Yankees in 2019, until he began to struggle down the stretch and in the postseason. Those struggles continued in 2020, and he was eventually traded to Boston as a salary-shedding move for the Yanks, who replaced his salary with Justin Wilson, Darren O'Day, and Brett Gardner.
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