Despite the struggles that the New York Mets are having in Queens, now is not the time to give Tim Tebow a Major League promotion.
It has been a rough month of June for the New York Mets and it has to have felt unwatchable for their fans at certain times. With the lack of young stars on the team, it is understandable why people would want to see Tim Tebow get his chance at the big league level, but now is not the time and it would send a horrible message.
Now, let the record show that I have been a Tebow fan ever since he was the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. As a baseball player, it is safe to say he has surpassed a lot of expectations people had for him when his professional career began.
As of June 24, Tebow has been hitting the ball well for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies. In his last 18 games, he has a slash line of .320/.370/.480 with a home run and five RBIs. 17 of his 50 hits have gone for extra-bases (11 doubles). However, his 80 strikeouts are 22 more than any player on the roster.
While Tebow has made strides with the Rumble Ponies, promoting him to the big league roster now would show that he is nothing more than a sideshow in the organization. He is clearly serious about his baseball aspirations when you consider he recently turned down being a quarterback in the Alliance Of American Football League according to Steve Spurrier (Paul Finebaum Interview on ESPN Friday).
When you look at the Mets system, there are other position players that deserve a look before Tebow does based solely on performance. Some of those names include first baseman Peter Alonso and infielder Jeff McNeil, who are both currently at Triple-A Las Vegas.
Alonso has 18 home runs in 73 games with Binghamton and Las Vegas and he is coming off a performance on Saturday against Reno where he hit three home runs (one grand slam) and drove in seven runs. Meanwhile, McNeil is hitting .387 in his first eight games in Vegas. Both players should get their chances after the deadline if they continue to produce depending upon the Mets moves at the deadline.
If the Mets want to give Tebow a chance in September, that is all well and good because they would at least get to see what he can do at the Major League level. A promotion to Las Vegas might not be far away if the 30-year-old (turns 31 in August) continues putting up consistent production. However, he is not ready for the big leagues from a performance standpoint.
In fact, if you are looking for an outfielder to watch in the Mets system, Kevin Kaczmarski has the chance to make an impact now that he’s up with the big league club. Before he got promoted to New York, the 26-year-old had a slash line of .363/.413/.450 with eight RBIs. He does not have a lot of extra-base hits this season (five in 33 games with High-A St. Lucie and Vegas). However, he skipped Double-A altogether and that is impressive in itself.
Once again, Tebow should get all the credit in the world for putting up better numbers than people thought. Calling him up would bring a jolt of energy to Citi Field that hasn’t been felt in a while. With that being said, New York needs impact prospects that can come up and help the big league club now and in the future.
The Tebow story would be great, but let us put a halt on the New York Mets calling him up to the big leagues as he continues to advance in the organization.
