Mets sign Tebow to Minor League deal

Tim Tebow's dream of a baseball career is coming true: The former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner signed a Minor League deal with the Mets on Thursday and will join the team's instructional league program in Florida later this month.

Tebow, 29, will get his shot at professional baseball after a turbulent football career left him seeking a new chapter as an athlete. The 2010 first-round NFL Draft pick held a showcase workout for nearly every Major League club last week in hopes of getting a shot in baseball, a sport he hasn't played since 2015 during his junior year at Allen Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

The Braves confirmed interest in signing Tebow earlier this week, with general manager John Coppolella telling MLB.com that "there's no risk" in signing the former quarterback.

"If we sign him, it's because we think he has a chance to help us at some point." Coppolella said.

But instead the NL East rival Mets emerged Thursday with a contract for the former three-sport standout, offering him a chance to return to New York, where he played for the Jets in 2012 following a division title with the Denver Broncos in 2011. Tebow, who in college led Florida to a pair of national championships, went to training camp with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles in 2013 and 2015 but failed to land a roster spot. He's most recently spent time as a college football analyst for ESPN.

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"The goal would be to have a career in the big leagues," Tebow said after the showcase, according to MLB.com. "That's the goal, right? And then the pursuit of it is to give everything you have and be the best you can and give everything. I want to be someone that pursues what I believe in and what I'm passionate about, and a lot of people will say, 'Well, what if you fail? What if you don't make it?' Guess what? I don't have to live with regret. I did everything I could. I pushed it. So I would rather be someone that could live with peace and no regrets than the what-if or being scared of if I didn't make it."

Tebow's improbable baseball showcase on Aug. 30 displayed some of his raw power and skill but also left some scouts questioning his throwing arm and ability to hit live pitching. The workout, held at USC, was attended by more than 200 onlookers who saw the muscular outfielder slug a 400-foot home run into a nearby parking garage at Dedeaux Field. He batted against a pair of former Major League pitchers, David Aardsma and Chad Smith, and showed good speed in the 60-yard dash.

Tebow's agent, Brodie Van Wagenen, said a handful of teams expressed immediate interest. ESPN reported that 46 scouts attended the showcase.

"The batting practice was impressive, and if he had carried it over into the simulated game, I think a lot of teams would have come away from this very interested," one scout told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "But it just didn't translate. He was out front a lot and he didn't recognize some pitches. He didn't take the same approach. It seemed like he was more interested in making contact, and his barrel was dragging. I can still see a team being interested, but he has a long way to go."

So what's the realistic plan for Tebow? The former QB will work with Mets coaches and instructors this fall in Port St. Lucie, where New York has its Spring Training and Florida State League facilities. The instructional league is less of an actual league and more about development and rehab for players seeking to work on parts of their game or learn a new position. Instructs generally run from September to October.

Tebow would have a variety of potential destinations for the start of the 2017. The Mets could opt to keep him in extended Spring Training at St. Lucie to continue his development. More likely perhaps, he could be assigned to Class A Columbia or Class A Advanced St. Lucie. The Mets also have a Class A Short Season affiliate closer to home in Brooklyn, but its season doesn't begin until mid-June. Double-A Binghamton would be a long shot, depending on his development this winter.

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"Since I was 4 or 5 years old, there's been two things that I've loved the most in sports," Tebow said last week." One was playing quarterback -- having 10 other guys look at you and depend on you to win a game. And then hit a baseball. Specifically those two things. And there wasn't a season that went by where [baseball] wasn't something that I thought about."