Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below.
New York Mets president Sandy Alderson said Tim Tebow’s baseball dream isn’t over yet.
After a hand injury cut Tebow’s 2019 season short and the coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 minor-league season, Alderson said he encouraged Tebow to return in 2021.
Tebow, an outfielder, has reached the Class AAA level since signing with the team in 2016. He’s constantly drawn heavy fan attention.
“So I talked to Tim Saturday, in-between Florida football and some other SEC (broadcasting) obligations,” Alderson said, per the New York Post. “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.
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“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 returned to the Mets as team president earlier this month. He was the franchise’s general manager when Tebow signed in 2016. Tebow has been a journeyman in the sport of baseball after a Heisman-winning college football career and short-lived NFL career. He has a career .223 batting average with a .638 OPS during his three seasons in the minors.
“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 cache 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.”
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