It was more than a little ironic that as the wild card chasing New York Mets honored their minor league players of the year Monday night at CitiField, a huge media throng, helicopters and all, were gathered in Port St. Lucie, Florida as Tim Tebow went through his first workout for the Mets in their instructional league.
The signing of Tebow has been fraught with snarky comments, conspiracy theories (he and Yoenis Cespedes share an agent), marketing deals and quiet resignation from baseball people that maybe they weren’t as involved with this as they should have been. However at the end of the day, what is the damage?
The Mets have done a good job of isolating the Tebow media circus away from CitiField and the pennant racing team for the most part. They have not put anything in a veil of secrecy; all his positives and negatives are on display in Florida. As he has always done, he has been accommodating and respectful to all that have asked him, and the fact remains he is a superior athlete trying to do one of the most difficult things in sport; crossover at an advanced age. Has it been a distraction to the Mets? If it has they have handled it well and minimized the news cycle around a team looking to qualify for the postseason, so no loss there.
Did the Mets maybe make some concessions so he can continue his broadcasting career? Yes, but that’s to his detriment, not theirs. Are they taking advantage of making a few dollars by selling some items in select places? They sure are, but if they didn’t, someone would be out there doing knockoff pieces, and by the way, if there wasn’t a public interest, the items would not sell. They are not plastered all over the Mets website, but they are selling, as the reports from MLB.com have shown, at least for the short term. Also in terms of buzz, he is one of the most engaged players in social now in baseball according to MVP Index, all without doing any damage to the work going on at CitiField.
Is it a distraction for the media now, and will it be an even bigger circus come spring training? Sure, but then again there are always distractions and managing those distractions from names big and small comes with the territory of bring around the largest media marketplace in the country. And if he fails, the story goes away quickly. If he does well, he gets a chance to make history.
Did the Mets need to sign Tim Tebow just for buzz? No. Was someone going to sign him? Yes. Is the Mets brand a little more relevant to casual fans today because of the signing? Yes. Will it help or hinder their fortunes in the next few weeks? No. Publicity stunt, slight risk with big reward and a marketing move with a name athlete are all part of the mix.
At this point who loses? No one really. In some ways the added fall instructional attention might actually help shine a light on some other relatively unknowns trying to work their way up, and the signing didn’t take a spot from anyone going thrugh the regular system. Traditionalists may hate it, but they probably also hated Michael Jordan giving baseball a shot, and we know how that turned out. Low risk, higher reward for the Amazins. No matter what the reason was, we will all be watching and following, and that’s not a bad thing. There are certainly worse stories, and we do love a comeback.
