Adrian Gonzalez does not think the Yankees’ offseason acquisitions are any better than the ones the team made last year.
The Red Sox slugger said Thursday even though the Yankees bolstered their rotation by acquiring Michael Pineda and signing Hiroki Kuroda, there is “never a breather.”
“I think they’re great, but at the same time I think the guys that they had last year were great as well,” Gonzalez told The Post. “They are exciting moves for them and they’ll be tough for us, but it was tough to face Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon and the guys that they had last year.”
Gonzalez, along with Carl Craword, was part of the Red Sox’s offseason splurge a year ago. This season, the Red Sox were not major players in the free agent or trade markets, and Boston’s biggest move was hiring Bobby Valentine to replace Terry Francona as manager.
“I wouldn’t say it has been a quieter offseason, we’ve made some great additions as well,” Gonzalez said.
“I’m definitely excited, it’s great for us, I think [Valentine] is the right fit for us, and we’ll really appreciate his presence and everything he brings to the table.”
Following last season’s monumental September collapse, where the Red Sox went 7-20 and missed the postseason for the second straight year, Gonzalez said Boston has learned the importance of a strong start.
“We all know it, but it comes to surface a little more about how every game is important,” Gonzalez said. “If we would have won one more game in April, we wouldn’t be talking about the collapse. Every game is important whether it’s against the Yankees or anyone else.”
Gonzalez appeared alongside Yankees ace CC Sabathia to promote Sony’s MLB The Show ’12 video game, and even though the pair were seated next to each other, the New York-Boston feud was alive and well.
“The Rivalry is not set aside just because we are in the same room talking,” Gonzalez said. “Once we get on the field I’m trying to hit home runs and he’s trying to strike me out.”
Rivalry talk aside, for Gonzalez and the Red Sox the goal heading into Spring Training remains the same: winning in October.
“We can win the World Series, we have the talent, the players and it’s about playing the games and getting it done on the field,” Gonzalez said.