The New York Mets announced on Thursday that they have signed former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow to a minor league contract.
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The Mets were one of 28 teams who saw Tim Tebow during the baseball workout held last week.
Tebow, a former Heisman Trophy victor, announced last month that he was interested in returning to baseball, attempting an athletic comeback in a sport he has not played since 2005.
Prior to moving to New Jersey, the New York Jets used to share their playing field at Shea Stadium with the New York Mets, but during that time, the two teams did not share any of their players. Since then he has not made the full time roster of any National Football League team although he played during training camps with both New England in 2013 and Philadelphia in 2015. The Colorado Rockies also showed interest in Tebow, though ESPN noted that there were “several” teams who met with the ex-Denver Broncos and New York Jets quarterback after last week’s workout.
Tim Tebow is a great fit for the Mets, seeing how he hasn’t had a hit with runners in scoring position since 2005.
Tebow has not played any competitive baseball for 11 years. We’ll all keep tabs on how it plays out, but now let’s get back to the pennant race. The worst that can happen is the Mets sell more tickets, jerseys, hats and hot dogs during spring training and one of their minor league affiliates gets a boost in ticket sales.
“Are you insinuating that we need a Hail Mary at this point?” Though he was once a standout high school baseball player, Tebow gave it up in his junior year to focus on football.
According to MLB.com, the 29-year-old, outspoken Christian athlete “will participate in the club’s Instructional League in Port St. Lucie, Fla”.
Tebow held a workout August 30 and met one-on-one with five teams.
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Needless to say, this is a critical and very fundamental step toward his stated goal of making the major leagues. His pursuit is clearly a long shot, but the Mets are intrigued enough to find out for themselves. “There wasn’t a season that went by that it wasn’t something that I thought about”.
