sports.espn.go.com/mlb/co...id=1760952
Well good. If Sickels wasn't paying any attention to Linden in the second half and in AFL action, I feel better about the paucity of prospect reports showing up on Giants kids. It could be owing as much to hounds' sloppiness as to the bareness of our cupboard. Although anyone catch Sickels regurgitating Bldorngblk's power predictions? I haven't read that 25-30 HR prediction anywhere besides the mlb.com board.
--CAB
Quote:
Richard from Toronto asks: If I recall correctly, outfielder Todd Linden of the Giants was fairly high on many prospect lists last year. But now, there's hardly any mention of him. Considering Jeffrey Hammonds just went down with an injury, is there any chance of Linden making an impact this year? What's his long-term potential?
I was impressed with Linden in 2002, but his '03 campaign for Triple-A Fresno was somewhat disappointing. He hit .278 with 11 homers, 40 walks, 14 steals, and 105 strikeouts in 125 games, not overly impressive production for the Pacific Coast League.
Linden's plate discipline slipped against Triple-A competition, and while he remained effective and dangerous when ahead in the count, he was ahead much less often than he was in '02 against weaker competition. He also had problems with his hitting mechanics in addition to his overall mental approach to work in the batter's box.
Linden turns 24 in June, so he still has some time to figure this out. But another mediocre season will likely remove any hopes the Giants have of Linden becoming a regular. He has enough defensive value (decent range, accurate arm) to hold a job on the bench if he can hit .260+ with some pop. Can he do that? If he shows better command of the strike zone, yes. Some see him as a 25-30 homer hitter down the road, but unless he improves his plate discipline, that will never happen.
Well good. If Sickels wasn't paying any attention to Linden in the second half and in AFL action, I feel better about the paucity of prospect reports showing up on Giants kids. It could be owing as much to hounds' sloppiness as to the bareness of our cupboard. Although anyone catch Sickels regurgitating Bldorngblk's power predictions? I haven't read that 25-30 HR prediction anywhere besides the mlb.com board.
--CAB
