Three Reasons the Yankees Should Have Signed Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow is currently getting poor reviews in the Arizona Fall League and the signing looks bad for the Mets. But they had compelling reasons for signing Tebow that the Yankees might not have thought about.

At the risk of ruining this article, I admit that I am not in favor of the Yankees signing Tim Tebow. I can think of many reasons why they should never, ever sign him: he hasn’t played since high school, he is starting late in an athlete’s life, he hasn’t played since high school, he is not fully committed to this experiment, and he hasn’t played since high school.

However, the idea had to at least have been considered as the Yankees sent scouts to his workout. And he was signed by the Mets, so signing him makes sense to at least some people in baseball. While the reasons above should disqualify him from consideration, there are at least three compelling reasons the Yankees should have thought about a bit more.

One: Leadership

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If there is one quality that is most highly prized in any group endeavor, it must be leadership. A pitcher can throw the ball but he cannot make the fielders focus enough on every play to catch that ball–he dropped the ball, he dropped the ball. And it does not matter if Babe Ruth is hitting if the guy behind him is going to give away at-bats.

Great leaders inspire people to be their best. Getting to the field ready to play mentally and emotionally is key to great play, as much as physically; just ask the Giants. The same is true for practice and conditioning: the more members of the team who do their best in these two areas, the better the team will play on game-day.

And the only leadership that counts is leadership by example. This is why Barry Bonds was fired: he was not working hard enough. I am confident that Bonds can help young hitters without looking at tape but if the coaches do not work hard at their jobs, the players will not either.

No such worries with Tim Tebow. There are reasons Tebow won the Heisman, and none of them were his arm. Those qualities–determination, drive and leadership–were all on display in his second consecutive championship run with the Gators. Not only did Florida erect a statue of him, among other footballers, but enshrined his famous motivational speech, which started that second run.

Baseball teams have often chosen bench players whose best asset is character. Tebow is no where close to being even a bench player but if he were good enough to play as much Ronald Torres, he would be the ultimate leader by example.

Two: Tebow would save the Yankees money

When you employ Tim Tebow, you do not need to hire a medical staff. This mostly means a team of trainers but can also include any emergency personnel. Those of you have seen the reports from the Arizona Fall League know that Tebow takes care of all the healing.

The Mets will now be the beneficiary of this talent. If Tebow continues to be effective, perhaps the Yankees will hire Mr. Miyagi as the head of their training staff. After all, they are both healers, which brings me to my next point.

Three: That boy walks with Jesus

Full disclosure: I am not religious. Spiritual yes, religious no. But I have read the Bible and I got the gist. It was something about loving each other, right? I may have skipped some parts.

So, I do not necessarily believe everything in that venerable book about Jesus and I do not expect him back anytime soon. But, if all of that is real, then Tim Tebow walks with God.

I only pay slight attention to college football but even I know all about the Tim Tebow magic. And his starts for Denver were, well, otherworldly. Tebow had seven game-winning drives in just fourteen starts, many of them in the most improbable fashion (thank you, Michael Kay). If he had so little talent, why was it so hard to stop him?

Perhaps it is because dog is his co-pilot.

He capped it all with his playoff win against the Steelers. In college, he often wrote John 3:16 on his eye black. In that playoff victory, won in stunning fashion on the first play of overtime, he passed for 316 yards with 31.6 yards per pass. Either one of those would have been incredibly coincidental; the two of them together scream divine intervention. I can only assume that the Broncos did not advance to the Super Bowl because Jesus had money on the Patriots.

I thought he was a Met?

My biggest issue with Tebow is the he is a dilettante. If he were not, and had as his main priority simply to excel at a professional sport, he would commit himself full-time. And he would forget baseball and become the worlds greatest Australian Rules Footballer. His body and skill set are perfect. But that is not a big media sport and ESPN rarely covers the games. Better to be a small fish in big pond, I guess.

Tim Tebow will never be a Yankees player or a big league baseball player. But I meant what I said above. Brian Cashman has already said he is glad the Baby Yankees are going to be around Tebow for a few weeks; wouldn’t a whole season be even better?

Next: Yankees Should Consider a Run at Cespedes

And He is in touch with whatever spirtitual forces rule the universe. I want those forces on the side of the Yankees. But if they eventually hire Tebow as Director of SLH (Spirituality, Leadership, and Healing), will they have to stop being the Evil Empire?