I know Houston is better, but we will not beat the Yankees in a 5 game series.
So you'd prefer to play the better team with the reasoning we can't beat the lesser team?
The Astros have far better pitching but the Yankees have an equal or better line-up. I have zero faith in our pitching staff to hold the Yankees to even single digits at Yankee Stadium. I'll take my chances on our line-up being able to beat Houston 7-6 than trying to beat the Yankees 14-12. We also don't have the same mental block against Houston.
Either way your path to the world series is to beat them both.
We can hope for Cleveland/Tampa/Oakland to take one out for us.
Astros have the best team in the majors (in my opinion), and quite possibly the best pitching, but anyone who's watched the Twins over the last 20 years knows that New York is our kryptonite. Like my senior year of basketball... Jordan ran away with the league, but my team beat them both times during the regular season by 10+ points. Were they a better team? Absolutely, but for whatever reason, we had their number. Until I see the Twins actually win a series at Yankee Stadium, I'll take the Astros.
Plus, the Twins have shown a knack for getting to Cy Young contenders and getting shut down by struggling veterans and rookies. I'm much more confident in getting 3-4 runs off Verlander or Grienke than holding the Yankees under 10 in their bandbox