Sonny Gray, added to the Boston Red Sox rotation via trade last week, didn’t mince words in a video conference Tuesday when given the chance to address his tumultuous New York Yankees tenure that ended seven years ago.

Asked if he had any reservations about joining a big-market team for the first time since his subpar 2018 season in the Bronx, Gray said, “New York, it just wasn’t a good situation for me. It wasn’t a great setup for me and my family. I never wanted to go there in the first place.

“When I was there (from mid-2017 through 2018), it just didn’t really work for who I am.”

Gray, wearing a 2007 Red Sox World Series championship hat during his introductory call with Boston reporters, said it was an “immediate yes” when he learned the Cardinals wanted to ship him to the Red Sox.

“What did factor into my decision to come to Boston, it feels good to me to go to a place now where, you know what, it’s easy to hate the Yankees, right?” he said. “It’s easy to go out and have that rivalry and go into it with full force, full steam ahead. I like the challenge.”

The Red Sox traded two pitchers to St. Louis for the 36-year-old veteran last week to bolster their rotation behind Garrett Crochet. The move raised questions about Gray returning to a big spotlight after he struggled with New York, posting a 4.51 ERA over 41 games (34 starts) following his arrival from Oakland via a 2017 deadline trade. Gray said he had no problem returning to another big-market team and waiving his no-trade clause, noting that his struggles in New York were more about the team than the environment.

He added that the experience in New York shaped him over the ensuing seven seasons, including when he finished runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award after he posted a 2.79 ERA over 32 starts in 2023.

“I do appreciate my time” in New York, he said. “I do feel like the last seven years of my career, my life and everything, I’ve been a better baseball player, husband, everything from having that experience and going through that. I just feel like I learned so much after going through that. When I immediately left, I was just like, you know what? I just wasn’t myself. And I don’t know what led to that or anything, but I just didn’t feel like I was allowed to just, ‘Hey, just go out there and be Sonny, like, go out there and just be yourself.’”