MLB Power Rankings - Week 21

In news that is sure to please the commenter from a few weeks ago who called me a homer for ranking the Yankees ahead of the Phillies, we have a new number one in the rankings this week.

Yes, I've removed myself from my undying love for all things Yankees, and have seen fit to place the Phillies atop the poll. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the good of all of you. I'm kind of a hero in that sense.

No need to thank me, just check out the rest of the rankings after the jump.

My Preseason Blogpoll Ballot

There are some changes to the Blogpoll this year, most notably the one in which MGoBlog's Brian Cook -- the founder of the poll -- will no longer be running it. The poll is completely in the hands of SBNation and Andy Hutchins now, who I'm sure will do a fine job wrangling all these ballots every week.

Anyway, ballots are due in on Monday now instead of Wednesday, which shouldn't be a problem for me considering I always get mine in on Monday anyway.

As for the actual ballot, our preseason ballots are due on Monday of next week, but I already have mine done so I submitted it. As I've said a million times, I feel like preseason polls are a waste of everyone's time because they're based on nothing but opinion, not actually seeing any of these teams play football. So what I do with mine is just make an educated guess as to how I think things will look when the year is over.

Brian Cashman Isn't Interested In The Cubs Job

With the news that Jim Hendry had been fired coming out of no where yesterday, one of the funnier things I heard during the day was that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was a candidate to replace him. No offense, Cubs fans, but if you honestly think Cashman would leave a team with an unlimited payroll to take over a team that is strapped for cash and hasn't won in over a century, well, pass that flask of yours over here.

So it's not all that much of a surprise to see that Cashman has already downplayed any supposed interest of his in the Cubs job.

MLB Power Rankings - Week 20

Quite a few changes this week because even though the top three teams remain the same, the Red Sox have fallen further out of the top two spots than they've been in two months. And while the rest of the top ten teams are basically the same, there was a whole lot of jockeying for position as teams slid up and down.

The Brewers have not only distanced themselves from the rest of the NL Central in recent weeks, but now they've entered the top five.

Find out where everyone else is after the jump.

So What Was Devin Hester's Role In The Miami Fiasco?

That'll be $500!

Just when I thought things couldn't get any crazier in the college football world, Yahoo and Charles Robinson had to go and drop a bomb on Miami on Tuesday. As I read the report on Yahoo last night, my emotions went from "holy shit" to "Holy Shit" and then a lot of "HOLY SHIT!"

I seriously felt like I was reading a script written by Oliver Stone. It was Any Given Sunday, but instead of a fictional pro team in Miami, it was about a real college team. It was just insane.

Of course, I write about it here because one of the names that keeps popping up in the report is that of Devin Hester. Now, there will be no repercussions for Hester because of this story. He's in the NFL and he did nothing illegal. Still, as Bears fans, I thought you might be interested in reading about what Hester actually did.

Congratulations, Jim Thome

I'm incredibly busy over at CBS these days as we work on our season previews and the season creeps ever closer, which means there won't be many posts here in the coming days, but I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to congratulate Jim Thome.

Thome hit two home runs last night to give him 600 in his career. Even better, they both helped the Twins beat Detroit and bring the White Sox a little bit closer to first place in the AL Central.

Thome has always been one of my favorite players in baseball, even before he came to the White Sox -- where he hit home run number 500 -- and I'm happy to see somebody that is universally loved finally break the 600 mark these days.

Cubs Plan On Keeping Jim Hendry

Well, Cubs fans, sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad. On Saturday the Cubs placed Carlos Zambrano on the disqualified list following his latest tantrum on Friday night in Atlanta. That means Zambrano won't be getting paid for the next 30 days, nor will he be allowed to be around the team for that period of time.

Which also means that Zambrano's tenure with the Cubs for all intents and purposes is over. He's not going to be back in 2012. Though apparently the same cannot be said for general manager Jim Hendry.