Tim Tebow is inching closer to the big leagues.
When the minor league season starts next week, the New York Mets are expected to assign Tebow to their Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. (Yes, the Rumble Ponies.)
Sandy Alderson vowed to be aggressive with Tim Tebow's development, and he's keeping to his word. The Mets plan to announce next week that Tebow will begin the minor league season at Double-A Binghamton, according to a source. Tebow ended last year at Class A St. Lucie.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 26, 2018
Last year, in his first season as a baseball player, Tebow hit .226/.309/.347 with eight home runs in 126 Single-A games. He played 64 games in Low Class-A and 62 games in High Class-A. Tebow went 1 for 18 (.056) with 11 strikeouts while battling a minor ankle issue this spring.
If last year is any template, Tebow could spend 60-something games at Double-A this season before moving up to Triple-A. And if that does happen, it is not out of the question the Mets could bring him up as a September call-up. There are other considerations here (the 40-man roster, performance, etc.), but things are trending in that direction.
It's worth noting the Rumble Ponies are independently owned and operated. Tebow sold lots of tickets last year -- ESPN's Darren Rovell reported games with Tebow saw thousands more tickets sold than average -- and all that extra revenue will go to the team's owners, not the Mets. The Mets do own their High-A affiliate, so they pocketed the Tebow revenue last year.
