Former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has signed a minor-league deal with the New York Mets as he aims to pursue a career in baseball, it was confirmed Thursday.
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The 29-year-old took batting practice, ran sprints and played in the outfield in Los Angeles as approximately 50 reporters and 40 scouts watched him at the Major League Baseball Workout, the annual event attended by scouts from every team in the league. Tebow spent nearly two hours last week at the USC’s Dedeaux Field running a 60-yard dash, shagging fly balls, throwing from the outfield and taking swings against former major league pitchers David Aardsma and Chad Smith in his audition for clubs.
Tebow won the Heisman Trophy for the Florida Gators in 2007 and captured two national championships. Tebow had preseason workouts with the New England Patriots in 2013 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015. He drew mixed reviews in front of scouts at a California workout last week in front of 28 Major League Baseball teams.
Tebow did impress with his raw physicality and his running ability was in the ballpark for a major league baserunner.
While news of Tebow’s signing quickly started making its way around the internet on Thursday, not all of the reactions were optimistic about the contributions that he may be able to offer the team. Prior to this, he had starred for Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida, last playing in 2005 before switching his focus to football for his senior year of high school.
The reviews on Tebow’s baseball prospects were mixed, with some scouts saying he was “terrible” to others saying he has “a real shot”.
This plan of developing the power as well as the rest of his game will begin this winter in an instructional league prior to Tebow going to spring training and then next season in the minor leagues.
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“I believe Tim has a big heart and he’s a good person”, said former Broncos and Jets teammate Eric Decker. With his proven track record as being coachable and willing to learn, there is a chance that Tebow could provide quite the return on investment. “There wasn’t a season that went by that it wasn’t something that I thought about”. “But I’m looking forward to putting in the work and I felt like this was the best fit”.
