Whether the 29-year-old Tebow, now an outfielder, reaches the big league club probably is immaterial to the organization. Again this deal has no bad features, the Mets really lose nothing if Tebow does not work out but could gain a huge return if he does. During Thursday’s conference call, he said his success would be measured in the effort he now makes in his transition to baseball.
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“I would consider success giving everything I have, putting in the work”, he said.
Tebow will report to the Mets’ instructional league in Port St. Lucie, Fla., according to a news release.
The Mets did go the pure showman route back in 2000, when they invited entertainer Garth Brooks to Mets camp.
With major league baseball being the focus and not minor league action, there’s a good chance Tebow, as an athlete, will disappear for a while.
But Tebow was able to hit a baseball pretty far in batting practice, and that’s at least something for him to build on. Candidates for a new team name include “Stud Muffins”, “Timber Jockeys” and “Rumble Ponies” – no joke – and you have to figure Tebow would mean a ton of Rumble Pony jersey sales.
Contracts are contracts, but those who weren’t taking Tebow’s baseball quest seriously to begin with certainly won’t be impressed by this development.
“Someone is going to sign him, I guarantee you that, because it’s Tim Tebow and [the fans] will be coming to a baseball game with a football jersey on, selling tickets”, Decker said. Adding Tebow to that mix, obviously, will give some Mets farmhands a heck of a lot of experience dealing with media hordes long before they reach the Majors. Though Tim bounced between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, the last time he played an official game was with the New York Jets in 2013.
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“Are you insinuating we need a Hail Mary at this point?”
