Out of Left Field: Tim Tebow's wild ride

I don’t like Tim Tebow. I don’t like that the Mets signed him to a minor league contract over some player who actually deserves it. Since his days with the Denver Broncos, Tebow has been a media circus and a poor player.

As some may recall, Tebow was a bad NFL quarterback. He went on a crazy late-season run in 2011, which saw the Broncos win six games in a row, many of which were comebacks, and then carried them to a walk-off playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas. Tebow was then traded to the New York Jets and bounced around the league from the New England Patriots to the Philadelphia Eagles before calling it a career.

This past summer, Tebow announced his intention to play major league baseball. On Sept. 8, 2016, the New York Mets signed him to a minor league contract.

After seeing Tebow stand in the wrong on-deck circle before his first at-bat this spring and then proceed to strike out on four straight fastballs against reigning Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, I felt compelled to write about it. Now obviously, having your first professional at-bat be against Porcello is no easy task, but what we’ve seen from Tebow the past few months has been less than inspiring, from him running face first into the outfield wall to his at-bats in the Arizona Fall League.

There’s no denying that Tebow is an athlete. He dominated while at the University of Florida and made it to the NFL, more than most people can say. But that does not mean his athleticism will translate into him being good at baseball. Michael Jordan, Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson were all great athletes in their respective sports, but not good at baseball. So it blows my mind that after not playing since his junior year of high school, Tebow was given a contract with the Mets.

During his open tryout, one scout remarked, “It was a complete waste of time,” calling Tebow “an actor trying to portray a baseball player.” Last week, while he was warming up with Yoenis Cespedes before the Mets’ game against the Houston Astros, Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo tweeted that Tebow “airmailed [Cespedes] multiple times.” At least Tebow’s inability to throw is consistent across sports.

I’m not trying to be one of those old curmudgeonly baseball guys insistent on the game being played the right way, or whatever would come out of Jonathan Papelbon’s mouth, but signing Tebow just seems unfair to the kid who has put in years of work.

This whole thing has been one big publicity stunt, as evidenced by the Mets immediately selling Tebow’s jersey as soon as they signed him despite him not being on the 40-man roster.

I would be lying though, if I said I wouldn’t pay tens of dollars to see Tebow hit a home run and “Tebow” on home plate in front of noted 'unwritten rules of baseball' enforcer Brian McCann.