Tim Tebow retires from baseball after five years as a minor league player at the New York Mets.
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner returned to baseball in 2016 for the first time since his freshman year of high school and reached Triple-A, encouraged by then-general manager and current Mets president Sandy Alderson.
Tebow, who works for ESPN’s SEC network as an off-season college football analyst, played 77 games at the top of the minor leagues in 2019, averaging .163 batters with four home runs. He finished his career averaging .223 in more than 287 games.
“I want to thank the Mets, Alderson, fans and all my colleagues for the opportunity to be part of this great organization,” Tebow said in a statement released by the Mets. “I liked every minute of the adventure, but now, I feel I have to go in other directions.
“I never wanted to be part of something, I always want to be 100% in what I choose. Thanks again to everyone for their support in this incredible baseball adventure. I will always remember this time with pleasure “, he added.
A left-handed player, the 33-year-old former player was invited to the spring camp of the Major League Baseball this season, with one of 75 places after the Majors limited the size of their spring training lists as a measure. precautionary measures against coronavirus.
Mets players are scheduled to report by next week.
In four spring camps, Tebow hit 0.151 in 34 games and hit his first and only round at home last spring before the camps were closed due to the pandemic.
“It was a pleasure to have Tim in our organization as a perfect professional in the four years with the Mets,” Alderson said. “Reaching the Triple-A level in 2019, it far exceeded expectations when it entered the system in 2016 and should be very proud of its achievements.”
Tebow’s baseball career got off to a strong start when he hit a home round in his first professional tournament in an instructional league game against the St. Louis Cardinals. fan.who suffered a first-round crisis in the stands in his Arizona Fall League debut.
The former NFL defender, who was selected in the first round of the 2010 draft by the Denver Broncos, was a member of the All-Star team in the Double-A in 2018, when he hit .273 with six home runs in 84 games . He fought in Triple-A the following year and his season ended early with a cut on his left hand.
The information from the PA was used in this report.