So I stumbled across this yesterday: http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080309&content_id=2415184&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak
Apparently Todd Linden is frustrated that he's not being prepped for starting duties with his Minor League contract. This whole situation took me off guard. I consider myself a pretty astute fan, and I completely missed his signing. What makes Linden so sure of himself? He was once a first round draft pick with tons of potential. His first year in 2002 was awesome, but he's never quite put it together at the big league level. He's spent most of his days playing second fiddle to Barry Bonds, and perhaps this has given him a false sense of ability. Something like "the only reason I'm not playing is because Barry is in front of me." A valid point, really.
What's stopping him is the fact that the A's outfield is either mostly the same, or as good as him. Travis Buck in Right Field seems better. Buck in his first season posted a 288/377/474 line, whereas Linden has never beaten 273/356/455 line, which he did in 2006 for 61 games. I don't trust him in Centerfield, where in 106 innings in 2007, he posted a poor .946 Fielding percentage, and a Range factor if 1.00 (compared to the 1.55 average.) In Left Field, he's being supplanted by Ryan Sweeney and Emil Brown. Brown is an established Major Leaguer--a mediocre one, but still a veteran. Ryan Sweeney is basically the same guy--a once highly touted prospect (for the White Sox) who has never quite put it together. Sweeney is left handed, and much better against Right Handed Pitchers, better suiting him for the platoon role. Linden is a switch hitter, and not particularly better against either side.
It makes me wonder about the mindset of some Professional sports players. These guys go their whole lives dreaming of the day where they finally make it and prove to the world their talent. I guess he figured "Hey, this is the worst outfield in the league, I gotta make it for sure!" It's somewhat arrogant, but he does have a point. I still don't see him making the spot right out of spring. He's 28 now, and Baseball Prospectus predicts he'll be out of baseball in four years.
What do we do with all the Todd Lindens of the world then? Unfortunately, this is just one of the sad byproducts of the system. Unless one finally has a Jack Cust year where they do piece it together and break out, they're left as 30 somethings in the world labeled has "Never Was's." Let's hope for the sake of goodness in the world that Linden bats .350 this year.
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2 comments:
As kids we would look at a guy hitting .240 in the Majors and say "that guy sucks". When in reality that guy is so talented we mortals can hardly comprehend it. For that matter any guy in DoubleA is practially a different species from the rest of us. I don't feel too sorry for Senor Linden. He's living what could only be a dream for 99.9% of us and if it's not enough for him, then he can just take that bat in his hands and change his destiny. He doesn't need a chance. He needs to put up or shut up.
At the same time, these guys are practically bred for competition. It's probably sort of like how in High School kids get overzealous about their grades, because at that point their grades are their lives. They can't really see anything past that point, and realize that grades don't matter that much if you get the piece of paper. These guys can't see anything past baseball, since it's their lives. I still feel sorry for a guy devoting 30 some odd years of his life to something and never getting to their goal, even if it is what seems like the pipe dream of professional sports.
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