J.B. Cox Headed to the DL

No word on Cox’s injury, as of yet (via Chad Jennings). This is sort of big news for the Yanks as Cox was thought to be headed to the majors after a few more outings. He could have easily replaced LaTroy Hawkins and if Hawkins is still dealt, I guess David Robertson could get a shot instead of Cox. Robertson has been tremendous in the minors (he has great stuff) and has done fairly well in AAA. However, he’ll have to keep his walks down in order to remain successful and get the call.

Yanks Need $400 Million?

From the AP:

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)—New York City officials confirmed Wednesday that the New York Yankees are seeking more public financing to build their new stadium.

State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester, whose committee investigates publicly funded projects, said that the Yankees now say that if they don’t get another $400 million in public financing the club might not be able to finish the stadium.

Apparently, the Yanks are trying to work something out with the city and the IRS in order to receive more funding. Looks like the organization is going to need a lot more than Babe Ruth to build this stadium.

Hughes & Hawkins News

First, before I get into the news, I’d like to say that, after today, I’ll be done with the bulk of my schoolwork, which will allow me to begin posting as frequently as I used to. So, thanks for sticking with me everyone and let’s get into the news.

• Phil Hughes is feeling better and expects to begin a throwing program soon. He also informs us that he received some glasses and that he’ll likely don the next time we see him in a Yankee uniform.
• Next up, we have some news from Ken Rosenthal. According to Ken, the Yankees are “aggressively” shopping LaTroy Hawkins. To be honest, I don’t even think this is news as his performance would suggest this has been going on for quite some time now. Maybe the Rockies will take him back for a box of sunflower seeds?

(Props to MLBTR/RAB for the Rosenthal piece.)

Farnsworth Still Setting Up Mo

When Jose Veras was brought in to protect Chien-Ming Wang’s win against the A’s, the reasoning behind that move was due to Kyle Farnsworth having a “tender” bicep (this was noticed during the KC series), which is why he didn’t pitch in tonight’s game. It’s OK though, since Veras still managed to make it an exciting inning as Kyle Farnsworth’s presence obviously hovered over him.

So, don’t get too excited. Farnsworth is still the 8th inning guy.

Q & A With Damon Oppenheimer

Yankee fans were given a chance to chat with Damon Oppenheimer today and the results are posted on the Yankees’ website. The focus of the Q & A session was the 2008 draft and there were some interesting tidbits throughout. Here’s a pretty telling moment about recent draftee, Gerrit Cole.

abc5: Does Gerrit Cole project higher, lower or the same as Phil Hughes when Phil was selected? Which one is more polished at the same stage?

Oppenheimer: Gerrit has a very high ceiling as a Major League starter. I try not to compare other players, but at this stage, his stuff is further ahead than Phil at the same age.

How great is that? That says a lot about Cole’s stuff and hopefully, he and the Yanks will work something out before he heads to UCLA (Hi Gerrit, here’s a bag of money!).