Hey I’m with you. I don’t expect him to be the pre-season starter for a playoff contender. But I always thought he’d be a decent back up to have on the roster, considering some of the shlubs in the number 2 spot on some teams.
For most teams, they view their #2 QB as someone that they have a least a modicum of confidence in being able to start right now, since it’s fairly common for starting QBs to miss games due to injury, and a #2 QB will, more often than not, see some actual playing time during the season. The #3 QB (who’s usually inactive) is generally seen as a team’s “developmental” player – a guy who might grow into a #2 role down the road.
The fact that, after leaving Denver, Tebow couldn’t stick as even a #3 QB with three different teams – two of which (the Jets and Eagles) had unsettled QB situations – tells me that his coaches didn’t even see him as having enough potential to take on that #3 role.
“In recent interviews, Tebow has said he was considering potential careers in politics, coaching and a possible NFL return.”
http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/08/09/tim-tebow-pursuing-professional-baseball-career
I’m sure he’ll settle on something eventually.
The story says that his coach, former MLB catcher Chad Moeller thinks Tebow’s swing is “impressive” and that he’d make it to the majors “relatively quickly”. Then again, Moeller (who had problems getting above the Mendoza line) would probably have been impressed by anyone’s swing.
I have heard an awful lot about this today. I’m sure some minor league team will use him to put butts in the seat. I hope he can manage to not completely embarrass himself. If Tebow hasn’t played baseball in a decade and thinks he’s going to jump right to the pros, he is in for a rude awakening.
Jayson Stark, David Schoenfield, and Craig Calcaterra, experienced baseball writers all, each wrote columns today saying that Tebow has absolutely no shot at any kind of professional success. A 29-year-old outfielder who hasn’t played in eleven years and would have been drafted fairly late in the game, at best, as a high schooler–they are unanimous in saying no way.
As a couple of folks in this thread have pointed out, baseball is Really Hard.
Tebow is attempteting to land a job in sports? Jeez. What a jerk!:rolleyes:
If you think 29 is “still young” in baseball, I question everything you think you know about baseball.
I think the reason some people are particularly upset is the implied attitude that professional baseball - major league baseball, no less - could be a fallback for a washed out NFL player pushing 30 years old who hadn’t even played baseball in college. As if the physical and mental skills to play football were a complete superset of what it takes to play baseball, which is simply not true, not in the slightest. Especially as a position player who has to swing a bat, run, and field a position well - where fielding a position well takes many, many reps to learn all the most likely situations.
The exception would be if he were to focus on becoming a pitcher, where especially in the American League he would not have to bat, and especially as a lefty, he could focus on just throwing the ball effectively to a strike zone that’s 60 feet 6 inches away, and not much else. There’s always demand for a left-handed relief pitcher specialist who has a good deceptive slider away from left-handed batters. Or a ground ball inducing curveball.
In that case, I’d say he’d have a chance of showing pro level stuff in as little as 2-3 years. He could, after all, have the “stuff” to do it.
But no, he wants to be an outfielder? What?
I’d say politics is probably where he’ll actually have success. Governor of Florida!
I find it kind of odd and funny that Tebow is becoming John Elway’s b^^^^. Elway would have gladly traded Tebow for a bag of practice balls and a case of Gatorade, but as a new GM, he knew not to make waves with his quarterback.
Now Tebow wants to play baseball. Tebow was rated a third round draft pick by most GM’s and coaches (except one) and was undrafted in baseball. Everybody knew that Elway was a football player and would be the first pick in the draft, but still the Yankees used a valuable second round pick on him. He did play one (short) season of pro baseball and would have been a top prospect for the Yankees if he chose baseball.
What’s next, golf? Elway’s in his mid-50’s and still has a scratch handicap and plays in pro tournaments like the Colorado Open, a top State Tournament.
As other people have noted, you’re severely overstating Tebow’s athleticism here. Sanders and Jackson were freakish athletes at NFL positions where athleticism is at a premium. Tebow was a good athlete playing a position where athleticism is nice, but it can’t make up for a lack of fundamentals. He was incredibly athletic for a college quarterback, but that doesn’t translate to being exceptional in the NFL.
This. To make matters worse, Tebow was a failure at the NFL position that’s most analogous to baseball. A successful NFL quarterback relies on repeated, precise technique and lightning-fast decision-making to get the ball where it needs to be, and those skills are developed entirely through process. Tebow either wouldn’t or couldn’t develop those skills in the NFL. Why would he expect to do that in baseball.
I really hate talking about sports on the dope (too many clueless old white guys here) but Tebow has no chance of playing MLB baseball so everyone should relax. Here is his current swing:
Oh boy. Not only is this swing too long (slow), but he has a little hitch in his hands. These mechanics issues can take years to fix, and he is already 29. It looks like he has some raw power but I can’t see him ever being able to hit a professional breaking ball with how slow his hands are.
He’ll sign a minor league contract and play a season or two of low A ball before flaming out.
Even before his planned workout for teams, Tebow has been offered a contract by the Schaumburg Boomers of the independent Frontier League. I’m not sure what the level of play is of the Frontier League, but I suspect it’s no higher than single A.
Yeah, that didn’t look super impressive. He’s starting all wrong and he doesn’t seem to be transferring his weight into the swing. A huge amount of wasted motion. I could nitpick his swing to death if I felt like it but the overall impression is just not “holy crap that guy has a swing.”
Almost sounds like semi-pro.
Tebow’s too old.
I don’t know that guys playing for single A teams that are affiliated with MLB teams make much more than that. From what I’ve read, it’s not at all uncommon for players at that level to be living with host families (at least in part because they don’t make much money).
But, good catch by Enginerd on that league’s age limit. 
Technically, Frontier League rules allow teams to have one “veteran” player, aged between 27 and 30. The fine print, though, says that this “veteran” has to have been on the roster (active or DL) of a Frontier League team for 100 games over the previous two seasons.
https://www.frontierleague.com/player_elig.php
So presumably that still leaves Tebow out. On the other hand, this could be an attendance bonanza for a team that doesn’t typically come close to filling its stadium (average about 3K, stadium capacity 7300, stats from http://www.baseballpilgrimages.com/attendance/independent-leagues-2015.html), and it would not be a shock to see the league waive its rules for the chance to get a few extra fannies in the seats.
I’ve heard some baseball purists rail against Michael Jordan and how he “stole a spot” and now this as if theres ZERO politics and wheeling and dealing to get a spot on a high profile teams/program to begin with. I cant tell you how many players in their teens got drummed out of baseball because they didn’t know the right people or weren’t in the “right” league, or in their 20s making the Minors but “looked” at the wrong coach the wrong way and were blackballed, I guess its just the same with any other walk of life.
The politics and backstabbing that go on in lower levels of baseball are a complete joke, so for anyone to fault Tim Tebow for giving it a try and maybe earning a few shekels for a struggling Minor League team for a few months to me is a joke.
The title of this thread made me think of Dr. Seuss. “Timmy R. Tebow, will you please go now?!”