The neutral’s mind is a fickle place. There are all kinds of different factors that can affect one’s opinion of a team they otherwise wouldn’t have any feelings about. On Wednesday I ranked all the NFL teams by “likability,” so now I’m turning my attention to the MLB. Here’s how I think it all shakes out.

1. Kansas City Royals

Yes, yes, the team won the World Series. That should theoretically knock them down the rankings, but let’s be real: People still love the Royals. Did you see that victory parade? It really is hard not to like a team from a relatively small market like Kansas City (which is probably the best baseball town in America right now, by the way), with a payroll that’s 14th in the league, yet still manages invoke such loyalty in its fans.

2. Oakland Athletics

Michael Lewis’ Moneyball secured the A’s high spot on these rankings for the foreseeable future.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

The team has been trending up in recent years, which most casual fans seem happy about considering the painfully long down years.

4. Cincinnati Reds

Hard not to like the oldest franchise in the league.

5. Minnesota Twins

So many years of being relatively unthreatening has turned the Twins into the team that everyone secretly wants to win

6. Milwaukee Brewers

Ryan Braun docks the Brewers a few likability points, but have you ever been to its stadium? A fun vibe with good beer. More than enough to make up for it.

7. Baltimore Orioles

Another great baseball stadium. You can also get french fries covered in crab dip there, which counts for a lot around these parts.

8. Philadelphia Phillies

Seriously, how low can you feasibly rank a franchise with the best mascot in the game?

9. Chicago Cubs

The team is good this year — very good — but even still, it’s hard work to dislike a cursed team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908.

10. Seattle Mariners

So many years of both Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki have succeeded in making Seattle a very likable team, indeed.

11. New York Mets

Every team from New York is naturally divisive. Goes with the territory. But next to the Yankees, people can’t generally seem to not mind the Mets.

12. San Francisco Giants

So many years of being good doesn’t help, but how much fun was it watching Tim Lincecum be awesome?

13. Tampa Bay Rays

WARNING: You are now entering the indifferent section of the rankings.

14. Colorado Rockies

* indifferent section *

15. Toronto Blue Jays

* indifferent section *

16. Cleveland Indians

* indifferent section *

17. Arizona Diamondbacks

* indifferent section *

18. San Diego Padres

Thanks for visiting the indifferent section of the rankings, come back and visit again soon!

19. Chicago White Sox

It’s not really their fault, but every White Sox success succeeds in making us feel bad for their poor crosstown rivals, the Cubs.

20. Texas Rangers

Regardless of your own personal opinions, politicians owning sports teams usually has a negative impact on the likability rankings, whatever side of the aisle they’re on.

21. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The Angels are traditionally pretty reliant on big-money free agent contracts, which is a red flag, and the name issue is a little strange, too.

22. Detroit Tigers

The franchises relative success and high-spending recently has sort of given them a Yankees-lite feel.

23. Houston Astros

The Astros are probably the most statistical-heavy team in the league, which simply turns a number of people off.

24. Miami Marlins

Jeffrey Loria is probably the most divisive owner in the league.

25. Los Angeles Dodgers

Payrolls are a big factor in the baseball likability rankings, and when you consistently have a huge one like the big-market Dodgers yet still don’t deliver titles, it doesn’t bode well.

26. Boston Red Sox

A classic success-induced fall down the rankings. Remember when all the players had beards and the stadium had the Green Monster and the legions of die-hard fans would sing to “Sweet Caroline” even when the team never won? They still have all that awesome stuff, obviously, except now the Red Sox win, too, which makes everyone else kind of jealous.

27. Washington Nationals

Bryce Harper is a divisive face of the franchise, as is Stephen Strasburg, and the wishy-washiness of D.C.’s fans rubs many people the wrong way.

28. Atlanta Braves

The self-imposed etiquette police of the league-turned worst team in the league don’t have many redeeming qualities to trade off nowadays.

29. New York Yankees

Any team that’s nicknamed “the Evil Empire” is always going to be extremely low on this list. So many World Series titles, so many home grown legend, so much money thrown the way of other teams’ best players, so much glory. And somehow, they’ve managed to stay unlikable even when the team isn’t good. They really are the worst. Well, almost…

30. St. Louis Cardinals

Do we really even need to explain this one?