Mets Sign Outfielder Tim Tebow

The New York Mets have signed outfielder Tim Tebow to a minor league deal, as they announced. Adam Schefter of ESPN first reported the deal. 

According to James Wagner of the New York Times, Tebow will make a $100,000 signing bonus, the maximum a team is able to spend on an un-drafted free agent without it counting against their draft bonus pool. 

Tebow, 29, is a former Heisman Trophy winner and National Football League quarterback with the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. 

He announced his intentions to transition to a baseball career in early August and held a workout for scouts on Aug. 30. Twenty-eight teams attended, as Tebow showed off his outfield skills, running and hitting off of former Major League pitchers. He gathered mixed reviews from scouts but they agreed he showed impressive power, hitting a 440-foot home run in batting practice. 

The Mets were not the only team to show interest in Tebow, as the Colorado Rockies, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays were also reportedly considering offering him a contract. 

Tebow has not played competitive baseball in 11 years, with his last full-time action coming in 2005 as a junior in high school. He was a top high school baseball talent that did garner some MLB Draft interest, but he did not play in his senior season to focus on football and was not drafted. 

The Mets announced that Tebow will head to the Instructional League to begin his career. 

--Devan Fink

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