MLB

Sandy Alderson didn’t want Tim Tebow’s baseball dream to end like this

By
Mollie Walker
Published Nov. 23, 2020
Updated Nov. 24, 2020, 9:17 a.m. ET

Sandy Alderson says it’s still Tebow Time for the Mets.

The Mets president said Monday he encouraged Tim Tebow to return in 2021 and the former NFL quarterback agreed.

“So I talked to Tim Saturday, in between Florida football and some other SEC [broadcasting] obligations,” Alderson said. “He’s anxious to come back. And I told Tim, ‘Look, why would you want to end your quest based on a COVID-related reason? You didn’t get a chance to perform this year.’ He was hurt a little bit the previous year. So I think Tim is committed to coming back. And I think we’re committed to giving him an opportunity to do that and we’ll see where it goes.

“This is not a quest without end. At some point it will culminate. But I think that will be at a time when Tim and the organization come to some agreement about where he is and what his potential is. But I didn’t want him to go out based on some COVID-related interruption.”

Alderson, who returned to the Mets as team president earlier this month, was general manager when the organization signed Tebow in 2016, a move made partly to attract more fans.

Tebow, a left fielder, has since made it to Triple A, but a hand injury in 2019 cut his season short for the second straight year.

The 33-year-old hinted in a recent interview with MLB.com that he was set to return.

“It’s 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.”

In his three seasons in the minor leagues, Tebow, the former Jets quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, hit .223 with a .638 OPS while playing almost all of his games in left field.

“I think that the organization has already benefited significantly from his involvement with the Mets and his pursuit of a baseball career,” Alderson said. “I think the Mets have benefited, I think baseball has benefited. As I said, this is not something that will go on forever. At some point it will lose its cachet or the interest of fans. But I couldn’t be happier with the way Tim has conducted himself as not only a teammate but a representative of the Mets. So given all that, he’s entitled to another shot post-COVID. And I’m happy he’s coming back.”