Having flopped with the New York Jets, Tim Tebow will try to revive his career as an outfielder with the Mets. The fact he signed with the Mets is what is making news.
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Tebow will report to the Mets’ Instructional League team in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and in 2015 that commitment ran from September 18-Oct. During the week I’ll be training as hard as I can. Starting Tebow off in Brooklyn would mean keeping him in extended spring training until the New York-Penn League season kicks off in mid-June, but that’s probably not the worst idea given that he hasn’t played baseball since high school. He’ll begin playing for NY in the instructional league later this month.
“He’s got power. He’s got a couple tools”, Mercker said. Having a high-profile athlete like Tebow choose baseball is a good thing insofar as the sport’s cultural prominence is concerned, and suffice it to say he won’t make the majors unless the Mets deem that he’s earned it and can help the organization at the highest level.
Tebow was one of the greatest quarterbacks in NCAA history, albeit as more of a dual-threat run-and-pass signal-caller instead of a traditional drop-back passer.
The demand for Tim Tebow Mets jerseys figure to go through the roof as the once-heralded Florida Gators legend and outspoken Christian has an unquestioned following throughout the nation (3.34 million Twitter followers at last check). From our standpoint he is another opportunity to develop a player. “I can pursue this awesome game of baseball, give everything I have to it and continue to work”.
Between the lines, he appears to be one more big, athletic guy with some natural gifts who may or may not pan out, so it’s a risk worth taking if the baseball people who scouted him signed off. “There wasn’t a season that went by that it wasn’t something that I thought about”.
“I think that any player evaluation starts with tools”, he said.
“We understand he’s a tremendous competitor and role model for players in our system”.
Tebow has been a fan and media sensation since his days at the University of Florida, and the fixation on him hasn’t waned much even after his National Football League career failed. Aside from his age, and everyone will cite that as reason he can’t make it, there are four or five other reasons we believe he can make it.
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As to why Tebow hadn’t tried his hand at baseball earlier, he said, “Honestly, it’s been something I’ve been thinking about for a little while and came close to pulling the trigger past year, going through a day of training for baseball. From the very outset, we understood he had made a commitment, when he makes a commitment, he follows through, so this is not going to be a significant impediment”.
