Why Tebow’s tryout could be positive for baseball

By and large, the Major League industry reaction to the news Tuesday that Tim Tebow wants to give professional baseball a shot was what one would expect it to be. There was some snark, some shrugs, some cynicism and some dismissal of it all as a “publicity stunt.”

Baseball is not an easy sport to embrace at age 29 and following an exaggerated — in this case, a dozen years — layoff. We saw that when an NBA legend tapped out after a year in Double-A.

“Tim Tebow should talk to Michael Jordan,” one National League scout said.

Tebow once engendered similar media fascination as Jordan — unfortunately without anywhere near the same results at the highest level. With his quarterback career having flamed out, Tebow’s agents are arranging a showcase for Major League scouts expected to take place sometime this month.

“Like anything else,” another NL executive said, “you approach it with an open mind and not a ton of expectations.”

Amid all the skepticism about the Te-ball experiment was at least one voice of optimism. Not so much related to Tebow’s career itself but for the sporting world at large, and what a high-profile athlete making a move like this could demonstrate to others.

“So many of your shortstops, center fielders and pitchers that are also quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs leave the game of baseball because of the time and financial investment involved,” an American League scouting director said. “I wish many of them would do what Tim Tebow is doing and come back to the sport of …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com