Who should Toronto Blue Jays fans be rooting for in the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays? 

Well, of course, the answer is "we want both teams to lose," but that's not reality.

The Rays lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 heading into Monday night's Game 6. If they advance to the World Series, it will be the first time since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. If the Guardians win, it will be their first World Series appearance since 2016.

The Rays have never won the World Series. Cleveland hasn't won since 1948. 

So again, who should Jays fans be rooting for?

1) If you're holding onto any kind of nostalgia here, you might remember that Rays manager Kevin Cash started his playing career with the Blue Jays, spending three seasons in Toronto (2002-04).

2) Maybe you think that a Tampa Bay win will cause them to ease off the throttle a bit, which makes things easier for the Jays moving forward.

The thinking? If Tampa Bay loses, they may think they are "so close" to winning the World Series that they'll uncharacteristically spend in the offseason. Perhaps winning a title would allow them to say "OK, we've accomplished the goal. Now, let's throttle back."

1) They aren't in the American League East. Simply put, if the Blue Jays can't win the title, then no other team in the division can either. An AL East team hasn't won the World Series since the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and let's keep it that way.

2) There are a lot of Cleveland-Toronto connections, including Ernie Clement and Andres Gimenez. I'm not necessarily sure why that connection would do anything for you, but it certainly could.

3) If Tampa Bay wins, perhaps they'll become more of a destination in the future for players. Sure, they can't necessarily pay a lot, which will impact things, but winning cures a lot. A title win would set them up better for the future.

If I'm a Blue Jays fan, I'm rooting for the Guardians. I don't want to see Tampa Bay become a true destination for other players. I want to see the Rays stay exactly as they are: A smart team with limited resources that players acknowledge is good, but that they won't necessarily want to choose to play for.