Kenneth Fisher has evil afoot:
Unfortunately, if there is a problem with the server / server name the sp_addlinkedserver doesn’t seem to throw an error and sp_addlinkedsrvlogin throws an error that breaks me out of the try block. So after my Google-fu failed me I did what I frequently do and asked on #sqlhelp. And I was given an answer that led me to the solution.
Click through for the solution. But not for the answer as to why he’s growing batches of monsters linked servers.