On September 8th, the New York Mets signed Tim Tebow to a minor league deal. The former Heisman Trophy winner reported to an instructional-league just a few days ago. The signing of Tebow was questionable at best. In a time where the Mets are in a Wild Card race for the playoffs, some players don’t outright agree with the singing of Tebow.
“I don’t particularly care,” said Mets outfielder Jay Bruce, “Nothing against or for him. He’s become a number at this point. There are a lot of other guys there working and trying to get to the major leagues. Now he will be as well, and we’ll see what happens.”
Bruce wasn’t the only one to speak about Tebow-mania coming to the Mets. Cody Decker, a first baseman in the Red Sox minor league system, tweeted out “Just so we are clear. Tim Tebow got a 100k signing bonus to play baseball….Mine was 1K….”
In a follow-up tweet Decker said “Today alone, Tebow has roughly made the same amount of money playing baseball that I have….In 8 years….”
Tebow will also miss a few days each week of the instructional league to continue his broadcasting role on ESPN and SEC networks.
This is a slap in the face to minor league players, whose dream is making it to the big leagues. Tebow not only doesn’t have to give up his day job, but is earning more than any of the players around him in the instructional league. Tebow’s salary in the minors creates a problem because most minor league players make under minimum wage, and work sometimes 60-70 hours per week with no overtime. Bud Selig and Major League Baseball attempted to pass a bill through congress last July under the premise that minor league baseball players should be able to make a career out of being a minor leaguer.
The suit also states that MLB players shouldn’t be paid by the hour. 10 percent of players actually make the majors, where the pay is on an average of four million dollars. On the part of MLB, it’s a way to encourage the other 90 percent to pursue other careers. At the same time Tebow’s salary, compared to the lack of importance he will have to the sport, is insulting to any minor league player trying to make the majors.
Considering the last time Tebow was in a New York uniform, it seems as though Sandy Alderson is uses the same tactics as Mike Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum was fired last year from his job as the Jets general manager after many fan protests of his mishandling of the team. At this point Tebow could be most at use as a distraction to a bigger problem the Mets are facing. Considering they are in the hunt for the playoffs, and they made the World Series last year, fan interest should still be fairly high. Hopefully Alderson will be able to fit Tebow in for a just cause, and not be wasting the Mets time and money on his services.
