Meet the Great White Hope. Todd Linden has been full of promise, and may finally be readying to deliver on some of it.
The talented outfielder bypassed Rookie and Class-A ball to land in AA Shreveport in the Texas League after the Giants signed him as a 1st round draft pick in the 2003 Draft (41 OA). He batted pure power and muscle, with a .314/.482 (AVG/SLG) during his stay there, with 12 home runs, 52 RBIs and 26 doubles to his credit. The big guy even stole 9 bases. He did all this, though, with 101 strikeouts.
He was promoted to AAA Fresno in his debut year, a rare feat. He battled more with the higher caliber of pitching, playing for .250/.380 numbers for the remainder of the season.
In 2003 he went back to Fresno, batted .278/.412, and got a cup of coffee with San Francisco where he batted a humble .211 in 38 trips before the mighty altar of baseball.
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Player: Todd
Anthony Linden
Position: Outfield (OF)
Height: 6-2
Weight: 215
Birthdate: 6.30.80
Birthplace: Edmonds, Washington
College: Louisiana State University (LSU)
Bats: S
Throws: R
Organization: San
Francisco Giants
Acquired: Giants, 2003 Draft, 1st Round, 41st OA
Signed By: Tom Korenek
Last Ballclub: Fresno
Grizzlies
2004 FAB50 Ranking: NR
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2004 looked much the same. His average sank to .260 but his slugging percentage climbed to .466 on 23 home runs, 28 doubles, and 75 RBIs. He had his worst year with strikeouts (149) and lead the PCL in going down swinging. The major league club called again, and again he turned in a disappointing .156 average as the Major League pitching used the holes in his swing as Swiss cheese for the sandwich into which they were carving him up.
This year, Linden seems to finally be listening to his instructors, and not taking the my way or the highway approach. The highway was getting dangerously close to calling. In 81 at bats with the Grizzlies he was hitting an impressive .321/.682, but, more importantly to those watching him, he went on the Special K diet and knocked his strikeout percentages way down.
In his time with the Giants this season, he's been doing better .235/.407, but he's still not bowling anyone over.
Linden is solid on his D when playing from the corners. He's big and powerful and relatively accurate on the inbound balls.
He's got big league potential, given particularly the numbers that he put up in Triple-A this season. He just has to put it together. If he can't get his act together with the major league club soon, the trial sized career in the bigs may be over, or he may be on his way to another organization to see if they can't coax him into better major league production.
Given his frequent movement into the majors, his high start in the farm system, and the need of the major league club at the positions he can play, he picks up some lift in position in the FAB50 to No. 18.
