Tebowing in Baseball

     The latest chapter in the Tim Tebow saga has just begun. But this chapter will not be about football. On September 8, Tebow signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets. Yes, Tim Tebow is officially a baseball player.  Tebow had previously held a showcase which was attended by scouts from 28 teams. Reports from the showcase indicate the scouts liked his power and speed. Tebow will begin his baseball career in the Mets instructional league.
     The next question is, how will Tebow do as a baseball player? Personally I do not expect much to come of this.  Tebow has not played baseball since his junior year in high school.  It's not reasonable to expect him to compete against guys 10 years younger than him who have been working at this their whole lives. Tebow definitely has natural ability, but for someone to try to pick up baseball again after over a decade is a lot to ask.
     The first thing I thought of when I heard about this was Michael Jordan. Jordan is a Hall of Fame basketball player who decided to play baseball in the middle of his career. As amazing of an athlete as Jordan was, he only made it to AA with the White Sox organization.  That is about how I expect Tebow to do.  I think he is a good enough athlete and a hard enough worker to make some progress in the minors,  but I just can't see him surpassing guys who have dedicated their lives to baseball.
     Another interesting aspect in this story is that while in the Instructional League, Tebow will continue will his job as a college football analyst with SEC Network. This will require him to miss practice 2 days a week.  For me, this calls into question his commitment. According to Tebow, this is because he had already made a commitment to the network. But Tebow had been working out for his baseball tryout for over a year. And he had to know he would get signed by someone, even if only for the publicity. To me, if he was 100% dedicated he could have made arrangements in plenty of time. I think it will be difficult to miss that much time and still get enough work in.
     In the end, I will be rooting for Tebow. I have been a fan of his since he was at Florida. He is a great competitor and seems like a great person. I hope he proves me wrong and goes on to have a good baseball career.