New York Mets: Tim Tebow has a dream, but needs to work a lot to reach it

New York Mets
Dec 7, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; New York Mets sign and logo during the MLB winter meetings at Gaylord Opryland Resort. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Tim Tebow isn’t giving up on his dream to reach the big leagues with the New York Mets. In an interview with the team’s beat writer for MLB.com Anthony DiComo, the former football player opened up about several subjects.

He traveled a lot during the offseason but still managed to follow his usual routine to open up space for baseball.
After training in some unconventional places (Maldives and the Vatican among those) he reported to the New York Mets’ camp this week for his fourth straight spring training with the team.

“That would obviously be something that would be special, and I think another part of the dream,” Tebow said of making the Majors. “Part of it’s just playing every day and enjoying it and competing, which I love. Obviously, that would be awesome. It would be a lie if I said that wouldn’t be super cool. Of course that would be something that would be special. But I wouldn’t say it would be a success or failure if that did or did not happen.”

Tebow has slowly worked his way up to Triple-A. Last season wasn’t good by any means: he slashed .163/.240/.255 in 264 plate appearances and ran a 37.1 K%. His season included health issues and was ended prematurely by a finger laceration.

He will return, for now, to the Syracuse Mets

He will return to Syracuse to start the year and would need to improve his performance and stay healthy to reach his dream. Specifically, he should focus in trimmin that strikeout rate and improving his contact skills. But he is passionate about baseball, and that should help him.

“I’ve tried to be someone that when I love something or I’m passionate about it, I kind of go all in for it,” Tebow said. “Hopefully, that’s something that anyone can see about my life. And I think that’s the biggest thing. And I think that’s also for a time. I think there are seasons for our life that are called for different things, and hopefully this is part of that season in my life.”

He declined an invitation to join the XFL and be a quarterback again to focus on baseball. Mets’ manager Luis Rojas defined Tebow as a “prospect” but at 32, he may be running out of time. However, Rojas believes that Tebow “can be a big leaguer at some point.”

And even if he doesn’t reach the Show, Tebow will use his status to contribute to society. “If all we did was try to play and win or lose a game, then it still doesn’t matter,” Tebow said. “But if you can transcend that, the platform that you’re given with football or baseball or something, and you can take that to inspire or change or encourage another life, then you did something that truly matters, in my opinion. And that’s ultimately something that I want to have in my life.”