The Mets on Thursday announced that Tebow would begin at Port St. Lucie, Florida in the Instructional League. The move can be seen as a publicity stunt, but Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said they were serious about Tebow’s abilities on the baseball field.
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“This is something I don’t take for granted and I am excited about”, Tebow added.
The Atlanta Braves were reportedly one of several teams also interested in Tebow, but NY ended up snatching him up first.
“The goal would be to have a career in the big leagues”, Tebow said last week after a work out in front of scouts in Los Angeles. But Jordan did hit.202 with 30 stolen bases for the Double-A Birmingham Barons, and Tebow’s swing is infinitely better than Jordan’s. It didn’t affect Tebow’s stated desire to return to the game he hasn’t played in any organized way since high school. “Call me. Send me some tickets if you can. You have to look for the next thing that God would have you to do”.
Aside from the New York Mets, another National League team, the Atlanta Braves, also showed interest in Tebow. There are indications that the Mets’ willingness to allow Tebow to continue his college football job was what ultimately led to his choosing them. Sure. But that’s their problem, not ours.
This is country singer Garth Brooks coming to various spring training camps over the years, hanging around the players, signing more autographs than the entire team combined all spring, and providing a little spice in the monotony of spring. But that’s a problem that ace PR man Jay Horwitz will have to address, not us.
The instructional league runs during mid-September through early October and is considered a “teaching league” consisting of players rehabbing an injury, players recently drafted and players who are changing positions.
Financial terms of the deal with the former Heisman Trophy victor were not made public.
“I think that any player evaluation starts with tools”, he said.
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Or maybe Tebow is less of a joke and sticks around for more than a season. In early August, ESPN reported Tebow was “actively pursuing” a career in the Major League Baseball.
