Between a hand injury in 2019 and then the cancelled 2020 minor league season, Tim Tebow hasn’t played in an official game since July 21, 2019. However, the 33-year-old former NFL quarterback hasn’t given up on his dream of playing in the majors, and he tells MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo that he is preparing for Spring Training and another season in 2021. “[Baseball is] not something that I want to do forever…because there’s a lot of other things that are in my heart that I want to pursue,” Tebow said. “But it is something that is still in my heart today.”
Over 287 games and 1048 plate appearances in the Mets’ farm system, Tebow has hit .223/.299/.338 with 18 home runs. This isn’t an unimpressive achievement given that Tebow hadn’t played baseball since he was a high schooler in 2005, and as Tebow’s baseball endeavor enters its sixth year, it can hardly be written off as a publicity stunt given Tebow’s obvious commitment. That said, Tebow’s promotions up to the Triple-A level haven’t been due to his actual potential as a prospect, and now that the Wilpon family and Brodie Van Wagenen (who represented Tebow as a baseball agent at CAA) no longer have a voice in Mets business, it is fair to wonder how much longer Tebow will remain in the organization. Sandy Alderson, however, is on record as being a Tebow supporter, and the front office may still feel the bigger-picture appeal of Tebow as a Met is worth giving him another crack at Triple-A.
More from Citi Field…
- Noah Syndergaard has begun throwing off a mound, as the right-hander revealed in a video on his personal Twitter account. It’s a positive step in the rehab process for Syndergaard, who underwent Tommy John surgery back in March and will likely miss at least the first couple of months of the 2021 season while fully recovering. While pitchers aren’t always immediately in top form after returning from a Tommy John-induced layoff, the Mets will surely welcome whatever Syndergaard can bring as an in-season boost to the rotation.
- Rays special assistant Bobby Heck is still on the Mets’ radar as a front office hire, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (via Twitter), possibly as the team’s new general manager. Earlier this week, Puma reported that Heck wasn’t likely to be the Mets’ choice for the president of baseball operations job. It seems likely that the Mets would find the baseball ops leader first before hiring a GM, in order to give their new front office leader input on their chief lieutenant.
- For more Mets news, an edition of NL East Notes from earlier today on MLBTR included a surprising pre-Carlos Beltran managerial candidate.