Who I should cheer for in the MLB playoffs:

Indulge me as I work this out here.

TEXAS RANGERS
WHY I SHOULD CHEER FOR THEM:
-They can obviously take down the Yankees, as they did it last year.
-Not a terribly high payroll.
-No one on the team has rubbed me the wrong way, and their manager seems congenial enough.
-They, to my knowledge, have never won a World Series.

WHY I SHOULDN'T CHEER FOR THEM:
-I have never willingly cheered for any Texas team to win anything (well, except for a brief period in the 90's where the Spurs were one of my favorites, but that was because my neighbor liked them). It's always a lesser of two evils option.

TAMPA BAY RAYS
WHY I SHOULD CHEER FOR THEM:
-Knocked out the Red Sox.
-Have never won a World Series (although this doesn't really count since they've only been around for about 13 or so years)
-Extremely low payroll.
-Scrappy underdogs!

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-Except they're not really underdogs anymore... they've made the playoffs the last 3 seasons.
-I also have kind of a bias against Florida teams. Maybe this is stupid, but I usually cheer against warm weather teams, as I figure that since the weather is always warm, they don't deserve other nice things, such as winning sports teams. (Part of this is due to the inferiority complex that growing up a Minnesota sports fan taught me.)
-Their fans aren't very good.

DETROIT TIGERS
WHY I SHOULD:
-They're going up against the Yankees. They need all the positive vibes they can get.
-They haven't won anything in about 600 years (since 1984, but... there was a lot of bad years in between that).
-Detroit has nothing else to look forward to other than sporting events.

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-I mean, they're kind of our rivals... so I feel somewhat obligated to cheer against them.
-Why the hell would I cheer for Delmon Young to win a World Series ring?

NEW YORK YANKEES:
WHY I SHOULD:
-So all goodwill I have for MLB is completely crushed.

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-Cause if they lose, I'll feel compelled to actually watch the games.

ST LOUIS CARDINALS:
WHY I SHOULD:
-They're OK. Nice baseball town.

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-Oh, whatever.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES:
WHY I SHOULD:
-Cause they might have the best shot of besting the Yankees?

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-2nd highest payroll in the league.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS:
WHY I SHOULD:
-Low payroll.
-I don't know who any of these guys are.

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-I don't know who any of these guys are.
-They won the World Series 10 years ago. And as a warmer weather city, I'd say that's about enough. (And I like Phoenix teams for the most part... at least the Suns.)

MILWAUKEE BREWERS:
WHY I SHOULD:
-Somewhat low payroll.
-Haven't won a World Series since 1982. Haven't won a series period since 1982, most likely. I don't know if those dates are actually accurate. I like to rely on memory for most of my information.

WHY I SHOULDN'T:
-They're from Wisconsin, home of the Green Bay Packers.
-(Note: I don't *actually* have anything against the state of Wisconsin. But they usually match up against Minnesota teams regularly (or, at least in football and collegiate sports) and I'm accustomed to cheering against them. Also, Minnesota is better.)
-Prince Fielder just sort of came out and said he was leaving the Brewers at the end of the season for no particular reason. I guess this doesn't really make me want to root against the Brewers, but... it makes me want to see him fail pretty badly.

...

I still don't really know who I'd want to win it all this year.

Not that it matters, really. Just someone beat the Yankees. And then I can watch.