Not just the Mets will be watching Tebow’s progress.
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Alderson said Tebow’s athletic prowess and relative celebrity status could be more a benefit than most realize, but he also stressed Tebow’s “makeup” as a reason the Mets took the chance.
The New York Mets’ announcement that they’re signing Tim Tebow to a minor league contract elicited the predictable array of snark and sarcasm from the team’s fans on social media.
Only two of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams – the Chicago Cubs and the Oakland Athletics – did not attend his open workout at the University of Southern California. Tebow, 29, hasn’t played baseball regularly since his junior year at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
Tebow has learned to shut them out, and now he has a franchise alongside him to do the same.
Mets are signing Tim Tebow to a minor-league contract, an MLB source tells ESPN.
“This was not something that was driven by marketing considerations or anything of the sort”.
Sandy Alderson met with team co-owner Jeff Wilpon, who signed off on Alderson’s suggestion that they get a deal done. The Mets probably have a few players who could actually use some coaching and instruction, who are younger than Tebow and actually have a future in baseball.
Tebow, who couldn’t play quarterback for the New York Jets four years ago, but still found himself in the news virtually every day and on the tabloids’ back pages, now will be doing it for the Mets.
Tebow, who has worked for ESPN’s SEC Network since 2013, will balance his new baseball career and his commitment to ESPN.
The Mets said in a statement that Tebow was signed to a minor league contract and would participate in the team’s Instructional League in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Recent rumors pointed to the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays as specific teams with interest, and there were presumably other teams with interest that didn’t let it get out.
Alderson: “I voiced a little skepticism about (Tebow) at the outset. but after due diligence and scouting on my part, and others, we felt it was a great opportunity for him and the Mets”. It’s hard to argue with Alderson’s overall body of work in NY, but what, exactly, was the point of this transaction, other than making a happy man out of Brodie Van Wagenen, the CAA agent who represents the Mets’ best player, Yoenis Cespedes? He landed big names who could, you know, play a pretty mean game of baseball.
“I think that is underscored by his competitiveness and his determination to succeed and to improve”, he added.
“This is a classic player development opportunity for us”, Alderson said.
Even if this one doesn’t, he could be worth millions to the organization, especially if he begins next season at 1904 Surf Ave.
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In the outfield, the 29-year-old appeared awkward, even falling once on the warning track.
