You wonder why the New York Mets, the defending National League champions and in the middle of another playoff race, would open themselves to ridicule by signing Tebow to a minor-league contract, and you listen to Mets general manager Sandy Alderson’s rationale. After years of putting his charm, looks, and athletic background to use on television, he is returning to professional sports in NY. Meet the new Mets, ladies and gentlemen.
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Alderson said he’s mindful of “the novel nature” of signing Tebow to a minor league contract, but that the decision “was strictly driven by baseball” and that the former Heisman victor “has demonstrated more than rudimentary baseball skills”.
Yes, there are those who have disdain for the Florida Gator great. He landed big names who could, you know, play a pretty mean game of baseball. “I’ll do everything I can to help him”.
As Matt Snyder of cbssports.com wrote, “As for anyone misguidedly wondering about the impact on the Mets in 2016, there is zero”.
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.
Tebow becomes the latest star from one sport to try to translate his athleticism to another.
Tebow has learned to shut them out, and now he has a franchise alongside him to do the same. Only Tebow can look deep within himself and answer that question.
He put out some feelers, released a couple of videos, got some baseball people to vouch for him and then got all but two teams to show up for media-spectacle showcase at USC. “We get to do what we want”.
My mother is the biggest Tebow fan there is. “I don’t know what sort of impact it will have on crowds, but it will add excitement”.
But in an unprecedented perk, Tebow will be allowed to continue his broadcasting duties with the SEC Network, taking Saturdays off from baseball to analyze college football for ESPN. Michael Jordan couldn’t make it work and he’s twice the athlete Tebow is. But this is baseball – considered the most sacred of sports in our culture.
“It’s not a typical one-off player evaluation in the sense that we evaluate the tools and make a judgment”.
Tebow recently held a showcase for 28 Major League Baseball teams in Los Angeles as he attempts to shift gears and change sports. There is no fancy welcoming committee.
This is Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson coming to the Texas Rangers’ camp one day each spring to talk with the players, take a few ground balls, and sign autographs. Some scouts thought the entire thing was a joke – “If (his swing) was any longer, it would take out the front row”, said one scout, probably unaware of the irony.
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The consensus among the observers was that Tebow showed some power potential and good speed, but his fielding didn’t go as well.
