With Thursday’s news that Tebow has signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets and has been assigned to the instructional league, he immediately becomes the highest-profile athlete on the circuit for 2016.
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“While I and the organization, I think, are mindful of the novel nature of this situation, this decision was strictly driven by baseball”, Alderson said. “This was not something that was driven by marketing considerations or anything of the sort”. “We are extremely intrigued by the potential Tim has”.
Tebow captured the 2007 Heisman Trophy as part of a stellar college football career at the University of Florida.
Though Tebow hasn’t played competitive baseball since high school, Tebow impressed some scouts with his “raw power and bat speed” during the August workout, reports Fox News.
Once a Jet, now a Met: Tim Tebow is now a part of the Mets’ farm system.
Alderson denied the Mets’ interest was merely for publicity, although he noted on several occasions the longshot nature of Tebow’s bid, and that it was far more likely the club will benefit intangibly, with their young players learning about elite competition from a former Heisman Trophy victor. And both Decker and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who survived Tebowmania in NY in 2012, know the potential for a distraction is huge.
There were 28 Major League Baseball teams interested in Tebow, but the Mets ultimately earned his signature. “The only timeline we have is over the next week or so is getting him to instructional league”. “Then, actually when I was in the middle of going through a day of training for baseball, [former Philadelphia Eagles football coach] Chip Kelly called and then I had to figure that out”.
Given his age, they could also opt to throw him into the deep end of the pool against better competition and let him fend for himself.
“I would consider success giving everything I have”, Tebow said.
Why is it such an affront to the baseball community for a team to take a flier on a 29-year-old mega-athlete who can run a 60-yard dash in 6.7 seconds and hit a baseball 450 feet (albeit in batting practice)? We understand most players don’t make it to the major leagues.
Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis said, “It’s good to have him back in NY”.
“For me, you pursue what you love regardless of what else happens, ” Tebow said last week in Los Angeles. The bigger question is why the Mets would do it, whether they truly understand the full weight of the persona and profile that complete the Tebow package, how so many of his stories start out with hype and hoopla, happiness and heart, only to dissolve into disappointment and discord, decline and departure.
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In a roundabout way, that same thinking applies to his new employers, the Mets.
