"I actually found out the day before the wedding," Kevin Whelan told PinstripesPlus.com after just getting back from his honeymoon, "an hour or so before they announced the trade. I was actually really shocked. I wasn't expecting it, of course I had so much going on with the wedding. I wasn't expecting it by any means." ...

"I see myself as a closer. I love being in that situation and in that role. As soon as I got traded I was sitting there thinking, 'wow, the Yankees have Mariano Rivera'. I would just love to sit down with that guy to talk to him and just learn from him. There's nobody else in the big leagues I'd rather learn from than him. He's so successful. He's one of the best closers in the game. It'll be a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to him and learn from him." ...

One of Whelan's friends growing up and former college rival is J. Brent Cox. While Whelan was closing out games for Texas A&M, Cox was closing out games for the University of Texas.

"I talked to J. Brent Cox right after the trade and he said 'the Yankees treat you good'. He played for [The University of] Texas so we were big rivals in college. I played with him in high school."