New York Mets: Tim Tebow Experiment Turning Into Embarrassment

The New York Mets are not a dysfunctional organization. Repeat that, please: The New York Mets are not a dysfunctional organization. And if they are not the laughingstock of much of the baseball world for signing Tim Tebow yet, just wait until the Arizona Fall League really kicks in.

Tim Tebow currently has the distinction of being one of just two players in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) to not have a base hit. He’s getting what he asked for with a chance to play against Double-A and Triple-A pitching. And although the AFL season is young, all signs seem to be pointing to a major disaster on the horizon for Tebow and a major embarrassment for the Mets franchise.

Because despite the fact that Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson continues to insist that signing Tebow was not a publicity stunt, if it wasn’t that, then what was it? Was it bad scouting reports that claimed Tebow actually possessed baseball skills that he clearly doesn’t have? Or was Alderson simply taken in by Tim Tebow’s personality as so much of America has over the past several years?

Responding to a question put to him by NJ.com, Alderson answered his critics by saying,

"“I have to tell you, the notion that we’re going to spend $100,000-plus on a player so we can sell a couple of hundred dollars worth of T-shirts in Kingsport, those economics don’t work. This was not about making money.”"

That’s a pretty hard sell to begin with, but when you add to that the $100,000 signing bonus Alderson gave to Tebow, you have to wonder who was playing who. As a “prospect”, Tebow had no claim to that money, except for the fact that like you and me he had played baseball in high school.

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And what about the frustration of the hundreds of players in the Mets farm system who were trying to climb up the ladder while getting by on $500 a month. Was that in Alderson’s thought process, and if it was, what does he tell these players now?

Sometimes, the Mets just make you want to scream. The way they mishandled the injuries to their star pitchers should have told us all we need to know. Jacob deGrom is scheduled to have no problem making his next start. Oh, but then he isn’t. And actually, he’s scheduled to have season-ending surgery. And they did the same thing with Steven Matz too.

So, either Alderson and his staff are incompetent and ignorant, or they need to take a refresher course in Public Relations 101 because something ain’t right here.

Over the years, Alderson has proven to be quite skilled and savvy in evaluating talent and bringing in players who have helped the team. And the Mets are lucky to have him. So let’s just say that Sandy Alderson woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning when he inked Tim Tebow.

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But there’s no reason to let this thing go on any longer. The “experiment” with Tebow is a failure. If we can all see it, why can’t Alderson see it too by cutting him loose before the embarrassment reaches even higher levels?

Unless, of course, it really is a publicity stunt.

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