New York Mets: Tim Tebow story may continue all the way to Queens

The Tim Tebow entertainment experiment, for some reason, may go all the way to the New York Mets roster in the big leagues.

Everyone knows the story. After a failed NFL career Tim Tebow held a baseball workout for all of the teams to watch and the New York Mets offered him a chance. They felt he showed enough promise to warrant a spot in the minor league system. His name didn’t hurt either as we all know that the Mets have financial problems, though they won’t come clean about them.

Even Sandy Alderson admitted that part of the motivation was the entertainment factor:

"“I think he’s great for the team,” Alderson said. “I think he’s great for baseball. He was phenomenal for minor-league baseball last year. And the notion that he should have been excluded from the game because he’s not coming through the traditional sources I think is crazy. This is entertainment. And he quietly entertains us.”"

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A little bit of honesty goes a long way, though a Mets staff member being honest seemed far-fetched at first reading of the quote. It’s a nice change.

For fans, especially in the minor league towns, that like that sort of thing, he is entertainment. Tim Tebow is a big name that has garnered a lot of fame through his college football career and through his strongly held religious beliefs. His brief run of success with the Denver Broncos only made his throng of supporters even more faithful to him.

Entertainment is one thing, however, while delusions are something else. An experiment is something that is going to end. What if this were going to become more than that. Listen to Sandy here (SNY via Pro Football Talk):

"Somebody asked me whether I think he’ll be a major-league player at some point. I think he will play in the major leagues. That’s my guess, that’s my hope, and to some extent now after a year and a half, a modest expectation.”"

OK wait just a minute. Now he has legit major league potential after leaving the game for a decade? Either he expects Tebow to make the majors because he believes he can help. Sandy you are so silly, if that’s the case. Or, he believes he will make it to the majors to help out at the gate. If that’s the case he is not doing the product on the field a service and should not be the one making the decision.

The problem is the amount of attention he draws. Let’s say he were to make the roster. He would likely be a fourth outfielder. He still would be in front of the media more often than any of the starters. That causes problems in the locker room. It causes dissention. It happened with the Jets. It’s not necessarily Tebow’s fault. He doesn’t ask for the reporters to talk to him, but then again, he doesn’t decline it either. Nobody has more press conferences after not playing in a game than this guy.

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Out of respect I will confess my bias here. As a Jets fan, I saw what happened to the Jets when Tebow was in their locker room. His presence was almost toxic in the way it broke up the locker room. It wasn’t Tebow’s fault but he doesn’t shy away from the attention. He was the backup quarterback and getting more attention than half of the team. I have never forgiven the guy for that.

So, forget about that part and look at the numbers. In his first full season in the organization, between two teams, he hit a whopping .226. His fielding percentage was .912. This merits starting at AA? Talks of being a pro? How about showing some real potential first? If he wasn’t named Tim Tebow they wouldn’t be thinking twice about this guy. It’s a sad state of affairs.

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