Get Ready New York, It’s Tebow Time
08 Sep, 2016
The New York Mets signed Tim Tebow to a minor league contract and said he will begin his professional baseball career in their instructional league in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
The Mets decided to sign Tebow on Wednesday, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. General manager Sandy Alderson met with team co-owner Jeff Wilpon, who signed off on Alderson’s suggestion that they get a deal done.A
The instructional league runs from Sept. 18 to Oct. 8.
Alderson insisted during a conference call on Thursday that the Tebow signing is not a publicity stunt.
“While I and the organization, I think, are mindful of the novel nature of this situation, this decision was strictly driven by baseball,” he said. “This was not something that was driven by marketing considerations or anything of the sort. We are extremely intrigued with the potential that Tim has. He has demonstrated over his athletic career that he is a tremendous athlete, has got character, a competitive spirit. Aside from the age, this is a classic player-development opportunity for us. As an organization, we’re going to provide that development opportunity for time.”
Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella had confirmed earlier this week that the team had interest in Tebow and had “multiple” conversations with Tebow’s representatives as a step toward signing him to a professional baseball contract.
Tebow, 29, worked out for 46 scouts representing 28 teams last week in Los Angeles.
Tebow, who hasn’t played organized baseball since his junior year at Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida, in 2005, has been working out with former big league catcher Chad Moeller in Scottsdale, Arizona, since Memorial Day. Tebow spent almost two hours last week at the Southern California’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.
Brodie Van Wagenen, Tebow’s baseball agent at Creative Artists Agency, told reporters that several clubs stayed after the workout to meet face-to-face with Tebow. The Colorado Rockies were reportedly another team with interest in the former quarterback.
Tebow won the Heisman Trophy for the Florida Gators in 2007 and captured two national championships. He played professionally for the Denver Broncos and New York Jets from 2010 to 2012 and got looks from the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles in 2013 and 2015, respectively but never played in the regular season for those teams.
Since 2013, Tebow has been a college football analyst for ESPN.
“Tim is committed to his role at SEC Network and ESPN this fall,” said a statement from Stephanie Druley, ESPN senior vice president, event and studio production. “We have always been supportive of Tim’s athletic pursuits. His new schedule will allow him to continue as a college football analyst on SEC Nation this fall.”
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