Mets GM thinks Tim Tebow will play in the major leagues

Bearing in mind that it is in fact spring, and that hope is overflowing from baseball camps all around Arizona and Florida, it’s not surprising for some teams to get drunk on the potential of their own players.

It’s even less surprising that one of those teams is the New York Mets. And even still less surprising that one of those prospects is Tim Tebow.

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But here we are, still a month away from Opening Day and Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is already talking about Tebow getting called up to New York at some point.

Let’s rewind: Last season Tebow was an underwhelming prospect who could hit home runs and strike out with equal amounts of fanfare. In 64 games with single A Columbia he slashed .220/.311/.336 with 23 walks, 69 strikeouts and three home runs — two of which came in his first three games with the Fireflies. Tebow ranked ninth in plate appearances with Columbia in 2017 and was eighth in strikeouts. His BABIP of .308 is less than stellar, to put it mildly.

To be fair, it’s not like we have a breakdown of what Tebow has been instructed to do in each at bat and what points of emphasis coaches are preaching, but for an MLB GM to look at those numbers and deem someone worthy of getting to the next level isn’t exactly encouraging.

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA Projections has the Mets finishing at 81-81 and near the top of the NL East. If that’s the case, then it’s hard to imagine Tebow getting called up. If New York falls short of that, however, then maybe a September promotion wouldn’t be out of the question. Though it’s hard to argue it would be anything less than that for New York — a promotion.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee