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Tim Tebow Pursuing Baseball Career, To Hold Workout For MLB Teams

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Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow is “actively pursuing” a career as a baseball outfielder and will hold a workout for MLB scouts next month, ESPN’s Adam Schefter writes. Tebow has been training in Arizona and California as a baseball player for nearly a year, working with former MLB catcher Chad Moeller. His agents, Jimmy Sexton and Nick Khan, are now working with CAA’s Brodie Van Wagenen (who has worked with MLB players like Yoenis Cespedes, Robinson Cano, Todd Frazier and Ryan Zimmerman) as Tebow pursues a career in MLB.

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“This may sound like a publicity stunt, but nothing could be further from the truth,” said Van Wagenen in a statement. “I have seen Tim’s workouts, and people inside and outside the industry – scouts, executives, players and fans – will be impressed by his talent.”

Needless to say, getting to the big leagues will be an uphill battle for Tebow, who is now nearly 29 and hadn’t dedicated himself to baseball since he was in high school in 2005. His case perhaps bears similarities to that of Michael Jordan, who left the NBA and began pursuing a baseball career in the White Sox system at the age of 31, only to struggle at Double-A.

Tebow, though, was an MLB draft prospect in high school as a lefty-hitting outfielder, as Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper tweets. Tebow did not play baseball as a high school senior or at the University of Florida, however.

Tebow won the Heisman Trophy at Florida in 2007, then led the Gators to a national championship in the 2008 season. He played three years in the NFL with the Broncos and Jets. ESPN hired him as a football analyst in late 2013.

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Comments

  2. Actively pursuing a baseball outfielder? I think a few words were left out there.

  3. “Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow is ‘actively pursuing’ a baseball outfielder”…seems pretty creepy. Wonder which outfielder it is?

    #proofread

    • Thought the exact same thing and laughed even harder when I saw your comment

    • Actively pursuing A CAREER as a Baseball outfielder.Read again.

      • It was edited. Originally the words ” a career as ” were not there. Typo was fixed. t was fun while it lasted!

      • Like gozurman1 commented, the typo has since been fixed. Just some grammatical humor bro, chill.

  5. Someone remind me what makes this guy relevant at this point? Is it because he openly professes his love for a fictional deity?

    • He’s a celebrity and well known football player, now defecting to another sport.

      • Really man? You are entitled to your own opinion, but please preface it as a your opinion or just shut the hell up.

      • It’s pretty straightforward, don’t know why it needs to be spelled out for some people. The guy won some pretty prestigious hardware in college too.

        • He won that hardware in college with a team STACKED top to bottom. The defense bailed him out a lot. I remember a game against Miss. St where he threw 2 pick sixes. One was 102 yards. The guy did well in college as a runner from inside the 2 yard line not as a qb. The only reason his passing stats were passable was because he had Percy Harvin.

    • No actually, he’s relevant because he had a great college career and one incredible year in the NFL. He was a first round draft pick, heisman winner, and therefore a public figure but also his personality and kindhearted behavior made him an inspiration and someone who fans of all teams liked. Everything I have ever seen or read about Tenow doing makes me like him even more. And to the last point, is he not allowed to profess his religion openly? Last time I checked we have something in this country called freedom. Him “tebowing” or speaking to his religion at private events is just as allowable as you using the term “fictitious deity” on this board, we’re all entitled to our own beliefs.

      • Inspiration? Tim, what are you doing on MLBTR?

        Yep, because the previous poster definitely said that he wasn’t allowed to have his beliefs… Get off your soap box

      • Tebow put up a mediocre passer rating and completion percentage and won a bunch of narrow games against middling teams, before lucking into a playoff win against a banged up Steelers team. Dude wasn’t incredible, he was a backup QB who had a hot streak and wasn’t good enough to ever start again.

    • Since you happened to bring up the religion issue. I happen to be a believer like Tebow, we all can make our own choice as to what we believe. But take a minute to go check out http://www.theincrease.org Pretty powerful, and it’s some of the games most talented players like Kershaw, McCutheon and others. It’s good stuff.

  6. I’m going to go out on a limb and say he has a below average throwing arm.

  7. Hope this works out for him. Tebow is a classy guy. Professional sports can use more guys like him.

    • So, what’s the baseball equal for a quarterback who can’t pass?

      • Leftfielder or 1b, where your job is largely to stand around and not throw.

      • Rick Ankiel. Started as a pitcher, then lost all control in his pitches. They moved him to the OF and became really good for STL

        • He also started out as 2nd draft choice as a BASEBALL player when he was 18. Not a 29 year flameout football player.

  8. Maybe San Fran signs him and he wins a championship in an even year with them.

  11. LOL, can’t cut it in football so he’s going to try baseball. Being out of the sport as long as he has and never playing past high school, that’s a steep learning curve. The odds are definitely stacked against him.

  12. I’m thinking the Angels sign him and put him in their rotation. He’d probably slot as their #4 right now given that he’s breathing and has a pulse. On second thought, he may not be up for Tommy John Surgery next month so Tebow probably will end up signing with the Dodgers.

  13. I would be surprised if he made it to the majors, but a team would be smart to sign him, to increase minor league team attendance.

    • In the vast majority of cases, the team and the venue are separate entities. The team signs an agreement with the owners of the stadium and its operation for x number of years, which can be renewed.

    • It’s really sad people care more about accomplishments with a loaded team in college and someone’s faith than they do about actual talent in a professional environment. There’s a reason he isn’t on an NFL roster. If he really wanted to play football he should’ve tried to play in the CFL and catch the eye of an NFL team. Many players have done this.

      • What’s even more sad is people root against a guy like tebow, a guy that graduated college a year early, and volunteers his time around the world, yet we root for some of the classless athletes who play professional sports.

        • They have talent. I’d rather watch talented players that have records than watch a bunch of mediocre players that are choir boys.

        • I don’t root for or against Tebow. If he has the talent to be a professional great, if he doesn’t fine, not everyone can be a professional athlete. Tebow couldn’t cut it in the NFL and instead of taking a chance on the CFL he tried to tryout to show his skills rather than prove his skills in another league. Yes, the CFL is a long path to the NFL but its the only path he has at this point. Without playing time and reps he isn’t getting any chances in the NFL. As for baseball it’ll be interesting because he hasn’t played in so long. That being said the contracts he’ll be offered will most likely be extremely low. He may just opt to stay as a broadcaster full-time. He isn’t getting anything but a minor league contract that is for around 60K/year or so in baseball. No matter what he shows in his workout sessions. Scouts are to busy with younger or international players to spend time on him.

  16. If nothing less ESPN must be ecstatic. Not a very good quarterback. Not sure baseball will be easier. He should have accepted a position change in football. It would have been less of a transition. As it is now he’s looking at at least three years in the minors which would make him a 32 year old rookie. But odds are he’ll go the way of Jordan and Mcgrady. Not sure anyone has successfully switched from football to baseball after a long hiatus from baseball.

    • Yeah, I mean he wouldn’t switch positions in football and now all of a sudden he is switching sports?

  17. Tebow’s playing baseball and Trump is running for president. In this country, anything really can happen!

    • Some pretty great comments here, but this barely beats out the comp to Chuck Knoblauch.

  18. I’m guessing the scouting reports read “Winning smile, arm a little short for center field, poor accuracy with throws.”

  20. Rooting for Tebow. Class act. Strong Faith. Great work ethic. Fine example of guts and determination. All the haters hate him because they are jealous. He shows what they are lacking and they wish they could walk in his shoes for just a minute to feel what it’s like to him. God Bless Tim Tebow.

    • Agree agree. Class act. Everybody is jealous that they don’t have the opportunity to try out for an MLB team. Heck I’m JEALOUS! Best of luck for whatever endeavor you go after Tim. An LSU fan is rooting for ya!

    • No your wrong I doubt there is Alot of people that want to be a washed up athlete

  21. It’s gonna be very difficult for him to make it, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it. I wish him well

  22. It is very discouraging to see the outright hatred many on this board feel towards someone who is a passionate Christian. I don’t happen to adhere to his same belief system and I’m not a huge fan of the hype that he received. Yet, to attack the man because he simply believes in things that you may not is truly sad.

    The reality is that MOST, an overwhelming majority, of baseball players adhere to some form of Christianity. Many openly profess their faith. Do you also despise those players?

    Tebow’s biggest issue is one that he has no control over – media attention. The difference between Tebow and the hundreds of other Christians that play baseball is that the media often downplays their faith or simply doesn’t cover it. With Tebow, it is all that they ever write about. It seems very unfair to go after Tebow when he can’t control what a writer reports on.

    I have no idea if he will be a good baseball player. The odds certainly are stacked against him. I wish him luck because he will need it.

    • Unfortunately, all you can write about the man is to mention his faith (and supposed faith-based life). There’s not a lot of there, there, to write about anything else.
      That said, if I own a minor league team I sign the guy. Gotta get the fannies in the seats.

    • You’re way off on this, guess.

      The ONLY thing Tebow is good at is being a role model. This is why I and many others get so frustrated — he proved to be a terrible 1st Round draft pick, analysts all over the league said he couldn’t play QB, and yet he got more media coverage than most if not every player.

      He is a great dude but I am so tired of reading about this great dude who WAS a great college athlete.

    • Please save the Christian crap. One of the most dirtiest religions out there

  23. If any football player should consider a transition, it is Julian Edelman after destroying several pitches in batting practice over the Green Monster a few weeks back at Fenway. If you saw the video, he may want to work on the follow through on his swing before a showcase.

    • I’m sure there’s a lot of players who can hit bp homers. I’m pretty sure Sidney Crosby was driving them out of PNC last year. Impressive, but I doubt any would have much success when it came to games

  25. I think he needs to start out playing Independent baseball to test his skill set. A previous poster mentioned someone signing him to boost attendance and Tebow would be a Independent owners dream. I can’t really see him being a productive player at any level. It’s practically impossible for a guy not to play baseball for over ten years and expect to play professionally. Hitting off the tee and taking batting practice is one thing, but game instincts, timing, and reactions are something totally different.

    • Any minor league team owner’s dream. I do agree that Indie ball is his best bet but if he is serious and has been working at it, somebody may sign him and start him out in A ball somewhere in the spring if his tryout out is actually pretty good. Stranger things have happened.

  26. Tim Tebow, in no way, shape, or form, has anything in his life, nor ever will, that compares to Michael Jordan. Please don’t ever mention the two in the same story again. The difference between the two, Jordan knew he could go back and dominate basketball. Tebow didn’t play in the CFL because then he would’ve really been exposed at how much he blows, and then he wouldn’t have a “the NFL hates me because of how I am viewed in the public eye” excuse.

  29. He’ll sign with the Yankees and originally play left field. With the short porch in right, he goes .235, 24 HR, 77 RBI in his first full season.

    However, his inaccurate arm will lead Yankee fans to dub him “Chuck Knoblauch 2.0.” He will spend most of his time afterwards as a DH, finally getting released as guys like Clint Frazier make their way to New York. Tebow will sign with the Rockies (surprisingly as a reliever) so that he may retire from baseball in the state that he became famous thanks to football.

  30. I guess it’s time for the “Tebow’s career stalled because he was Christian, not for being mediocre” narrative to creep back in. That being said, I’m interested to see if he actually has any skill, it would be an entertaining story if nothing else.

  31. He’s absolutely worth signing… if nothing more than minor league jersey sales… I think he will be disappointed at how much (little) minor leaguers get paid.

    • Ya it does pay less than his other likely job, President Trump’s Secretary of the posterior.

  32. I would love to see this guy absolutely rake in the MLB just for the entertainment and media boost to the sport it would bring.

  33. He will undoubtedly sign with the Sugar Land Skeeters a la McGrady and the Clemens comeback, play for one year then quit.

  34. After missing his read on the cutoff man he will attempt to rush the ball in from the outfield

  35. While I could care less about Tebow – Heisman winners are notorious for busting in the NFL like he did; remember Johnny Football? Or Scott Frost or Danny Wuerfell or Chris Weinke or… well, you get the point. Tebow was a mediocre NFL quarterback although he quite possibly could have changed positions and had a career.

    But there’s an interesting passage here about Jordan’s minor league season being a struggle. But look at it objectively, and it actually only increases the mythos of Jordan.

    Jordan batted 202/289/266 in Double-A in 1994, as he served a de facto suspension from the NBA for alleged gambling indiscretions.. He stole 30 bases but got caught 18 times. Those numbers look bad for sure but consider this:

    He was 31 and hadn’t played competitive baseball in 15 years. He drew 51 walks in 127 games. Scouts at the time found him to be an above-average outfielder. Granted, he was an elite athlete, but still, anybody trying to play baseball at a high level after 15 years off, performing as Jordan did, has to be considered a success. He wasn’t ever going to make the majors, of course, but to go from basically high school ball to double-A after 15 years and even do what he did is pretty amazing.

  36. He’d love the major leagues, where religious gestures are like a bodily function.

  38. Lot of teams will sign him for publicity even sign him for minor league contract! That’s a fact

  39. If 30 MLB teams are invited to his tryout, how many are going to show up?

  40. If I was a team owner I’d just sign him to a minor league contract with a invite to spring training, that alone could get more fans in the seats during the spring

  42. The owners are the Rockies are extremely fervent in their Christian morals and values. I could easily see them signing him. Since he was the Broncos QB, it would make as much sense as anywhere other than maybe the Rays or Marlins.

  43. I’ve never understood why everyone dislikes this guy so much. By all accounts he seems like a nice guy. I suppose his faith bothers some people, but I (speaking as an atheist) don’t care what someone believes or doesn’t. That’s a personal choice/belief. None of my business.

    I’m going to say the Rangers sign him. They loved having Russell Wilson around, maybe they’ll do the same with Tebow.
    This will be a very cool story if he can somehow make it to the big leagues.

  44. Did Tebow play high school basketball? Maybe Warriors would sign him to add to the super team roster.

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