Don't hold your breath for Tebow Time

by Tim Reilly February 19, 2018

On Sunday, Sandy Alderson raised eyebrows with his comments about the Tim Tebow baseball experiment. Alderson stated that his "modest expectation" is that Tebow will one day play in the show.

Sandy Alderson just said this on Tim Tebow: "I think he will play in the Major Leagues."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 18, 2018

In 486 at-bats between Class A and High-A minor-league ball, Tebow hit .236/.309/.347 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs. Mediocre numbers, at best.

Still, Tebow reported to camp yesterday, and his swing looks….good?

Minor leaguer @TimTebow arrived at big league camp yesterday and jumped right in to the action. https://t.co/JCJfC1xSq2 pic.twitter.com/ivseVABdW8
— New York Mets (@Mets) February 19, 2018

So there's that. For a guy playing in his first season of pro ball after nearly a 10-year gap from playing in high school, it's not bad. But if he were any other 30-year-old minor-league, his invitation to camp would’ve been “lost in the mail.” So I'm not exactly hoping to see Tebow in a Mets uniform this season.

Credit where credit is due, Tebow heard about Sandy’s comments, and said all the right things in response.

Here are Tim Tebow's own thoughts on playing in the Major Leagues: pic.twitter.com/187hygMPQT
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 18, 2018

But if Tebow steps foot into Citi Field in 2018, that means things will have gone very badly for the Mets. Bad to the point where the whole roster is on the disabled list and the 100 outfield prospects ahead of him have been quarantined with some sort of contagious virus.

Don't take my skepticism the wrong way. I have no problem with Tebow being in the Mets organization. He earned my respect by riding the bus without saying a peep. And at 30-years-old, it’s time to sink or swim. Throw him in the deep end to find out what’s really there. Let’s see Tebow put up not a modest, but a big season in Double-A, and then we’ll talk about what’s next for him.

If you're a Tebow fan, I wouldn't get your hopes up on actually seeing him crack the Major League roster. And until he actually does, I don’t want to hear "Tebow", and "Major League" said in the same sentence again, Sandy.

Photo credit: Joshua S. Kelley | USA Today Sports