After going 3-3 in their last six games, the Texas Rangers start a crucial four game series with the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow in Arlington.
Tom Dakers, who runs Bluebird Banter (a prominent Blue Jays Blog), was kind enough to answer a few questions from Toronto's view.
Would Jays fans rather see the Rangers or the Red Sox take the Wild Card?
Well, I can't speak for all Jay's fans and I do admit to having been a Red Sox fan (at least as far 
as I'm happy when anyone beats out the Yankees), but Red Sox fans have become as insufferable as Yankee fans with the same sense of entitlement. I think most Jays fans would be happy to see the Rangers beat out the Sox. Add in that I'm so tired of watching Youkilis argue every called strike that goes by. Sometime, Youk, be a man and take a strike quietly. So after this series is over, I'll gladly cheer for you guys.
Tell us a little about Brett Cecil. At 23 years old, he seems to be handling his own.
Cecil I like a lot, but he has thrown more innings this year than he has in any season in his career up until now and I think he is tiring. His last four starts haven't been good. The Jays say he's going to be shut down in September. He was a closer in College and the Jays have been bringing up his inning count slowly.
He is going to be very good starter in the majors. He has a good sinking fastball and a good slider and a changeup. When he is good he gets ground balls and strikeouts. When he's not so good we see a lot of fly balls.
Can you give us a scouting report on the other starters the Rangers will see this series?
Marc Rzepczynski (or Scrabble as we call him for his 40 point name) starts game 1 Tuesday. I really like him. He is walking too many lately but he went 5.1 no hit innings against Tampa Bay last start. He's averaging almost a strikeout an inning and is a ground ball pitcher. He started the season in Double-A, but has been very good for us.
Brian Tallet starts game two Tuesday. He started the season in the bullpen and moved into the rotation due to our 75 injuries to starting pitchers we've suffered through this year. I guess it might not have been 75 injuries, but it has sure felt like it. He has done quite a good job bouncing back and forth from the pen to the rotation.
Scott Richmond starts Wednesday and is a great story. Two years ago he was pitching for an Independent team, the Edmonton Cracker Cats. Before that, he was totally out of baseball. He has been very good for us. He throws in the low 90's, has a good slider, a change and a curve. And he is Canadian which is nice for us on this side of the boarder.
Who's hitting the ball well and who's not right now for the Blue Jays?
Adam Lind has been hitting great all year long as has Aaron Hill and Marco Scutaro. Resent call up, Randy Ruiz, has been good in his few at bats and is great fun to watch. He sort of has an all or nothing swing but he hustles. For a big man he runs pretty well.
Who isn't hitting? Vernon Wells hasn't hit at all this year. Rod Barajas had a good April and went cold after that, he's been better the last week but he was as cold as a batter gets before that. Kevin Millar hasn't hit at all since the end of April, but for some reason the team won't release him. He can't field or hit but apparently the Jays think there is more to the game than that.
There were a lot of rumors about Halladay coming to Texas at the deadline. Were fans open to it, wanting to rebuild? Or did they want nothing to do with it?
It is funny, Jay's fans think JP Riccardi can do nothing right. So when he looked like he was going to be traded, no one wanted that. Then when he didn't trade Doc, they say he's an idiot for not trading him. It is great fun. Personally, I love watching him so I'm glad he wasn't traded. JP said he wouldn't trade him unless he was overwhelmed with the offer. I guess he wasn't.
I did hear that Doc said he wouldn't go to Texas, he does have a no trade clause so he could pick places he didn't want to go. I don't know why he wouldn't want to go there. I'm not sure the teams got as far as discussing offers.
What is your prediction for this four game series?
I hate trying to guess what our guys are going to do. Every time I do they fool me, but let's guess a split, that way I can only be so far off.
Anything else that you want to get off your chest about the Jays to Rangers fans?
Other than manager Cito Gaston is driving me crazy? He's a 'player's manager' or so we keep getting told. But there is no accountability, Kevin Millar does nothing well and yet he bats cleanup. Vernon's been awful and he bats in the middle of the lineup. Since the All-Star break Rod Barajas has hit .221 and he plays almost every day. If Cito likes you, you play. No amount of proof that you aren't a major league player can change his mind once he's decided you can are his guy.
For more with Dakers, visit his website:
http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/
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