New York Mets: Tim Tebow Making Team Clowns of AFL
If you really want to know the difference between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, consider that the Yankees sent Gleyber Torres to the Arizona Fall League while the Mets sent Tim Tebow. One of them hit over .400 and won the MVP award while the other hit under .200 and is taking the brunt of criticism from scouts who covered the league. Take a guess which one is which.
When the New York Mets signed Tim Tebow to a $100,000 contract everyone, with the notable except the New York Mets raised at least one eyebrow and some even two . The Mets were trying to sell t-shirts and tickets. The Mets were delusional. The Mets were soft hearted. The Mets actually believed Tim Tebow was a legitimate prospect for play in the majors. All of which has a element of truth to it.
Tebow Gets His AFL Report Card
Now though, it’s time for report cards to be handed out and the grades for Tim Tebow also raise some eyebrows. For example, according to the New York Post ,
"Awful,” one American League scout said.“Stinks,”One National League scout said.“Ugly,”Another executive said. “In the field and at the plate, nothing looks natural.”"
I’m not cynical enough about the Mets (yet) to believe that the Wilpon Brothers said to Sandy Alderson, the GM of the Mets, “Go out and sign this guy and do it now! We can make a few bucks.”. No, something else happened and we’ll probably never know the thought process that went into the signing of Tebow, if there ever was one. So now, Alderson does what he does best in these situations. He spins it. Here’s what he told NESN:
"“The idea for us was just to get him more game experience there,” Alderson said. “We thought he might be somewhat overmatched and that was true early on, but from the first 10 days of the Arizona Fall League to the last 10 days, there was a marked improvement.”"
Huh, huh. That’s like reporting that only 1,000 people were slaughtered in the capital city of Syria this week, and that’s down from the 3,000 deaths the week before.
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Tim Tebow is 29 years old. If he was playing in the big leagues right now, he would already be in the middle of the “prime years” normally attributed to a player (27-31). How fast can fast be assuming he is capable of rising through the ranks of the Mets farm system.
Tebow, Tebow, Tebow…….
To recoup the 100 grand they gave Tebow, all the Mets need to do is sell 20,000 hot dogs at Citi Field on opening day. They can do that before the first pitch is thrown. But to recoup their reputation as a legitimate franchise with a stable and healthy front office, that may take some time.
They continue to say that Tebow is a good guy to have around. Everyone likes him and he gets along with everybody. Sort of like the same thing I say about my lovable dog, Bella. And besides, if that’s what the Mets are looking for, maybe Alderson should just hire another mascot.
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The good news/bad news though is that Alderson didn’t simply release Tim Tebow. There’s still more excitement to come. And all we can hope for is that we don’t fall off the edge of our seat waiting for it.