Aggie football is right around the corner. They are saving their keystrokes for the 1st Mazzone 3-and-out.

Interesting that they say he is 'stiff'. Tebow had a 38.5 vertical and 6.66 cone drill. Athletes that are 'stiff' don't pull off those numbers. I am sure being out of competition for a few years has taken dome getting used to, but Tebow has NFL WR/DB quickness inside of 20/30 yards.

Your vertical has nothing to with swinging a bat or throwing a ball

Cone drills and shuttles are great indicators of movement in the field and getting the jump in the ball, which is what the article is talkin about. Out of college, the only guys with quicker feet than Tebow were like 5-10, 190. Inside of 20-30 yards and changing direction he had nearly freakish quicks for a guy his size. There is no way in hell Jordan could have pulled off a 6.66 cone drill in his athletic prime.

jckrjr7 said:

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iBrad said:

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Tebow with the walk off bomb to extend his hit streak to 11 games. He's batting .327 since being called up. Not bad for a publicity stunt.

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Notice the haters have disappeared. Must be hard going through life rooting against people to succeed.

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Goodness. Just because you agree with the scouts and think he lacks talent and this is largely a PR stunt doesn't mean you hate the guy or are rooting for him to fail.

I certainly am not rooting for him to fail. Why would I do that? Good for him that he's hitting in St Lucie. He's taking advantage of this opportunity and playing better than expected. But certainly you could understand why people, including professional scouts, have doubts about a guy that hit .220 in Low A ball and was a defensive liability, right?

Heck, I'll even say that starting next season in AA ball would be justified by his performance in St. Lucie. That doesn't change the fact that his performance in Low A did not justify a promotion to High A. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

RetiredAg said:

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jckrjr7 said:

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iBrad said:

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Tebow with the walk off bomb to extend his hit streak to 11 games. He's batting .327 since being called up. Not bad for a publicity stunt.

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Notice the haters have disappeared. Must be hard going through life rooting against people to succeed.

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Goodness. Just because you agree with the scouts and think he lacks talent and this is largely a PR stunt doesn't mean you hate the guy or are rooting for him to fail.

I certainly am not rooting for him to fail. Why would I do that? Good for him that he's hitting in St Lucie. He's taking advantage of this opportunity and playing better than expected. But certainly you could understand why people, including professional scouts, have doubts about a guy that hit .220 in Low A ball and was a defensive liability, right?

Heck, I'll even say that starting next season in AA ball would be justified by his performance in St. Lucie. That doesn't change the fact that his performance in Low A did not justify a promotion to High A. Those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

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Its easier to call us haters than concede that we can separate the player from the play. The scouts are also doing that. It is their job to be able to do that.

BTW - there is more than one definition of "stiff". It goes beyond flexibility. It also refers to fluidity. Stiff for a baseball player may refer to a lack of comfort and therefore isn't fluid or "natural" in his swing.

Cool. Thanks for the pictures.

Build It said:

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laid down a great bunt to advance a runner.

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The quintessential team player

Ag_07 said:

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Build It said:

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laid down a great bunt to advance a runner.

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The quintessential team player

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Obviously the Mets didn't see Moneyball

Here is another

Update:

Looks like he's slumping. Last 10 games he's hitting .189 with a .502 OPS. His High A average now down to .273. Hard to tell if it's just a slump or regressing to a truer level. On a side note: St. Lucie has also set a new attendance mark this year.

http://nypost.com/2017/08/05/tim-tebow-helps-st-lucie-mets-set-attendance-mark/

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Sandy Alderson recently said the "entertainment" factor was a big reason why the Mets signed Tim Tebow to a minor-league deal.

And he was right: Tebow entertains and brings in the fans. The St. Lucie Mets announced Friday that they set a new single season home attendance record of 108,057.

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Update:

24 games left. He's been scuffling badly lately. Hitting .108 in his last 10 games. Average on the season is down to .248. OPS down to .725. Looks like he's just hit a wall, as he's played more in year than he likely ever has. Up to 105 games this season.

Never went down. Stayed in the game and scored a run.

I think the length of the season has gotten to him.

At this point the conclusion is the Mets weren't dumb. He obviously brought a lot of fans but held his own for a full season for a guy who hasn't played competitive baseball in forever.

He passed test #1 which was "don't be a complete embarrassment" with flying colors.

Next season will be the "are you good enough to develop or should we wish you well just before CFB starts" year.

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At this point the conclusion is the Mets weren't dumb. He obviously brought a lot of fans but held his own for a full season for a guy who hasn't played competitive baseball in forever.

He passed test #1 which was "don't be a complete embarrassment" with flying colors.

Next season will be the "are you good enough to develop or should we wish you well just before CFB starts" year.

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I don't think the Mets were dumb. They have accomplished exactly what they set out to do, which was sell more tickets and merchandise. And while I'd agree he hasn't been a complete embarrassment, I also think he's shown that he's simply not that good. He's hit .227/.309/.359 combined in Low A and High A. He has had a couple hot stretches in High A, but I think his decline is due to two factors: 1) hitting the wall on a long season and 2) he's regressing to his true level. His plate discipline does not seem to be improving either. He just doesn't have that one area that he's "good" at that he can rely on. He's not a power hitter. He's not hitting for average. He's not a threat on the base paths. He's not a good defensive OF. There's just a lot of subpar, but not atrocious, to his game.

I certainly don't think he has anything to hang his head about. He's performed better than 99.9% of people would at that level after taking 10+ years off from the game. Both sides have gotten what they wanted, it seems, out of this arrangement. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mets try him out in AA next year, but unless something "clicks", I think it'll be a very rough go for him at that level.

I am, though, kind of surprised by his lack of stolen bases.

I think what he's done is a pretty friggin incredible accomplishment. Helluva an athlete.

He would be the second coming in Australian Rules football.

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There's just a lot of subpar, but not atrocious, to his game.

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That's much of the minor leagues, which I think is what a lot of folks have tried to intimate at one point or another in response to those saying that with his stats, he doesn't belong.

He's older---he can't be on a 5-year development track; he's declined and still arguably the most productive outfielder that St. Lucie team has; and they say he's shown some of the improvement (bat speed, swing rates, etc.) that matters more at the minor league level than the usual stats.

The true test for Tebow will come in year two. The guy never played above high school and took 10+ years off. How he responds in year two will be interesting to see.

Ultimately, I think he tops out at around a .240-.250 minor league hitter. He struggled mightily with left handed pitching early in the year, but has gotten better, which I think leads to a more consistent season next year.

Ultimately, the Mets have to be thrilled that he performed well enough to have a year two.

Down to a .222/.296/.359 slash line in St Lucie. I would be interested to see a scout's take on whether his skill set has improved much over the course of the season. He does seem to have improved on the defensive side, but it's hard to really base solely on fielding %, and I can't find any UZR stats for minor leaguers.

Will be interesting to see if he comes back for another season, especially since this downturn (.172 avg over last 30 days) has to be demoralizing. If he does and the Mets want to bring him back (and why wouldn't they at this point $$$), I would think he'll start out in St Lucie. Looking at the Binghamton roster, I can't really see anyone that you could justify bumping in favor of Tebow. Their worst hitting OF is a CF named Patrick Biondi, and he hit 50 points higher than Tebow during his stint last year in St. Lucie and has hit .300 over the last 30 days in Binghamton.

All in all, I would say he certainly exceeded my expectations, albeit they were pretty low to start with. I will agree w/ 2011 that there's more to look at than just raw stats at this level. So, a non-Mets scout's before/after take would be interesting to read.

Tim Tebow's first full season of pro ball is complete. He hit much better over the last week and a half and pulled his BA up a bit (rebounded from a low of .214). Here's his year 1 numbers:

Columbia (Low A)
G: 64
AB: 214
H: 47
2B: 14
3B: 1
HR: 3
RBI: 23
K/BB: 69/24
AVG: .220
OBP: .311
SLG: .336
OPS: .648

St. Lucie (High A)
G: 62
AB: 216
H: 50
2B: 10
3B: 1
HR: 5
RBI: 19
K/BB: 57/19
AVG: .231
OBP: .307
SLG: .356
OPS: .664

Do these numbers justify starting in AA next year? IMO, not even close. But, he's actually played better than I expected. Kudos to Tebow on finishing his first pro season. Will be curious if he sticks w/ it for another year. While it appears he played better defense in St. Lucie, I'd be surprised if there were a consistent reason behind his errors, such as was he consistently throwing ball away or misplaying balls hit to him? I would be very interested to hear what scouts outside the Mets organization think about his play and any improvement from game 1 through game 126.

Definitely props to the guy. I don't think he starts next season in AA, but another whole off season of dedicated work could do wonders.

He's playing well enough to justify his organizational spot (especially considering his ticket sales).

I think he sticks it out another year, but don't be surprised at a AA call-up after 20-30 games of solid play in high A.

AA is the real test for any minor leaguer. Lots of young big league-caliber players there. Many fewer one-pitch pitchers there. Looking forward to tracking it again next year.

He's not Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson, but a fantastic athlete nonetheless.

Saw this and figured it belonged on this thread:

No doubt it was a smart business move. I think the Mets got exactly what they were hoping to get out of this.

What worked out well for the Mets was that Tebow proved to be a serviceable player whom they can bring back next year to continue to drive revenue. What a huge boost to their minor league clubs.

He had a good last 10 games hitting 280 plus. He had very few errors and has MLB speed for the outfield. As you would guess his monster arm also makes him attractive.

The pitching is horrible in A ball. His average is just not that bad for advanced A. He could defiantly move up to AA if the mets have a spot available next year. If not he showed he is improving and can sell some gear and tickets.

Tebow Watch 2018

I'll admit, he's performed better than I thought he would, although my expectations couldn't have been lower. AA seems to be a huge step up in quality of play, so we'll see how he fares. If I'm not mistaken, his first AB at AA Binghamton was a homer. VERY early in the 2018 season, but here's where he stands now:

Games: 3
AB: 11
H: 2
BB: 0
K: 6
HR: 1
RBI: 3
AVG: .182
OBP: .182
OPS: .636

Obviously this is way too early to draw anything meaningful from the stats. These were the OF stats for Binghamton last season:

Taylor (LF): .292/.375/.373
Kaczmarski (RF): .274/.370/.369
Mazzilli (RF): .259/.343/.364
Biondi (CF): .235/.326/.284
Stuart (CF): .222/.310/.331

This group only accounted for 19 HR last year, and Taylor seemed to be the strongest defender w/ 0 errors (solely judging based on errors committed). It appears that only Taylor and Stuart are on the team this year.

Early signs point to Tebow still struggling versus lefties.

vs L: .077 (1 for 13)
vs R: .304 (7 for 23)

Overall, he's batting .222, which is good for fifth on the team. He leads the team in strikeouts, though. It's still very early, but so far, he doesn't seem to be out of place in AA and is holding his own.

iBrad said:

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Early signs point to Tebow still struggling versus lefties.

vs L: .077 (1 for 13)
vs R: .304 (7 for 23)

Overall, he's batting .222, which is good for fifth on the team. He leads the team in strikeouts, though. It's still very early, but so far, he doesn't seem to be out of place in AA and is holding his own.

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So he's the double a version of Stanton with all those k's

18 games in:

BA: .226
OBP: .314
SLG: .339
HR: 1 (opening day)
RBI: 8
2B: 4
H: 14
AB: 62
R: 3
BB: 8
K: 31

8th on team in BA (3rd among OF)
4th on team in OBP (1st among OF)
9th on team in SLG (3rd among OF)
7th on team in OPS (2nd among OF)

Striking out a ton. Can't hit lefties. Hasn't hit a homerun in past 17 games.

Frok said:

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Sounds like a perfect fit for the Rangers

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With a couple of HRs over the past week, Tebow is now third on the team in OPS.