With his football career over, and with him still being a young man, Tim Tebow shocked everyone when he decided he wanted to become a professional baseball player.  To a certain degree, you could say Tebow’s first season as a professional was a disaster.  In 126 games played, he would hit .226/.309/.347 with 24 doubles, two triples, eight homers, and 52 RBI.  Now, you can argue there were glimpses like his hitting .260/.370/.390 in June, but most would likely dismiss that as one hot streak.

Despite Tebow’s struggles, his being a Mets minor leaguer last year should be seen as a success.  First and foremost, everywhere he went set attendance records.  As noted by ESPN, even before he played one game, his jersey sales were through the roof.  Say what you will, but this is a business, and if any team ever needed the money, it was the Mets.

But more than that, Tebow was there to leave an impression on the young Mets prospects.  That’s clearly a benefit as this is a person who has been able to conduct himself as a professional, has no off the field issues, and is someone willing to serve as a mentor to younger players.  This has value in the minors when you are teammates with players not too far removed from high school or college.

Fireflies teammate Bradon Brosher said of Tebow, “He does everything the right way.  He’s definitely one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. And I really respect what he’s doing.”  (New York Daily News).

Another teammate, Michael Paez said, “He’s the first one to pick us up and let us know we have so much to look forward to in the game and even in life.  He’s a great influence to have in there.”

Whether a direct result of Tebow or not, Paez certainly took off last season earning an All Star nod in the South Atlantic League.  At the time he was promoted to St. Lucie, Paez was the league leader in doubles.

In sum, we see the positives of Tebow at play, and yet, when the Mets do something like invite Tebow to Spring Training, the Mets are routinely mocked.

You know who doesn’t get mocked for stuff like this?  The Yankees, and they’re really much worse than the Mets when it comes to this stuff.

Years ago, they let a 60 year old Billy Crystal play in a Spring Training game, and now they have traded for Rangers “second base prospect” and Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson. For his part, Brian Cashman justified the PR by basically saying the team looks forward to picking the brain of a Super Bowl champion.  (ESPN).

Fact is, Cashman is as right about the decision as the Mets were about Tebow.  Sure, both faced their fair share of jokes over it, but with the Mets being the Mets, and Tebow being Tebow, the jokes directed towards them will last longer than what we’ll see with Wilson and the Yankees.

But you know what?  There’s more virtue with Tebow and the Mets.  Tebow’s there for the grind, the hard part, and not just for a fantasy camp experience.  The Mets have brought in more than a yearly scheduled motivational speaker; they have a mentor.

We can all mock Tebow and the Mets all we want, but fact is, this is proving to be a mutually beneficial relationship, and it will prove to be better than any other publicity stunt any other organization can concoct.