The five dumbest things said about Tim Tebow’s baseball aspirations – CBSSports.com

Former Heisman Trophy winner and either subpar or blackballed NFL quarterback — depending upon who you ask — Tim Tebow would like to make a career of being a Major League Baseball player.

(Pause for laughter.)

As is bound to be the case when anything happens regarding the Tebow lightning rod, there was some completely and utterly dumb stuff being said on the internet on Tuesday. Let’s run through the dumbest, for old time’s sake (yes, I’ve retired The Week in Dumb Baseball, but it’s still alive in my heart).

1. “He was awesome in high school.”

It appears that he was, indeed, a great baseball player in high school. That some people are using this as evidence that he can play in the bigs is beyond stupid. It’s almost criminally ignorant.

He was a stud in high school, so he might make the majors.

That’s what we’re going with? Seriously? Think for a second.

Do you actually know how many people are awesome high school baseball players? We aren’t rare (yes, I was one of them).

Past high school, there is college (unless you’re really awesome and can skip it). Then there are the lower levels of the minors. Then the middle levels. Each step up is exponentially more difficult. Once 99 percent of the awesome high school players are weeded out, you get to the majors.

2. “He was almost drafted.”

Yes, I seriously saw someone on Twitter use this as an argument. How does one get “almost” drafted?

There is no such thing. You either get drafted or you don’t. Tebow didn’t get drafted. Signability concerns due to him playing football? I have no doubt those were considered. Joe Mauer was taken first overall out of high school despite having signed to play quarterback for Florida State, though. I find it hard to believe that if Tebow was so utterly talented that a team wouldn’t have taken a flier on him.

But, Matt, Tim didn’t play his senior year!

Johnny Manziel was drafted out of college and he hadn’t played baseball since high school. Same for Charlie Ward.

There were 50 rounds of the MLB Draft in 2005, when Tebow was “almost drafted,” per his fanboys. If a team thought Tebow was that good, he would have been selected.

More ridiculous: it’s been 11-plus seasons since Tebow played. There are Major League Baseball players who can’t shake the rust after several months off and need to regroup during the following offseason. We’re to believe that after an 11-year absence from playing in high school that Tebow has a shot at the bigs due to “almost” being drafted (which means nothing)?

This logic is mind-numbingly dumb.

3. “Michael Jordan did it!”

Well, no, he actually didn’t. Arguably the best NBA player ever and undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes humankind has seen, MJ hit .202/.289/.266 in 127 Double-A games. That is atrocious, and it wasn’t even the highest level of the minors.

4. “He’s gonna take someone else’s spot!”

In the unlikely scenario that Tebow gets a chance to play professional baseball — aside from Independent ball, which is his likely course (Sugar Land Skeeters!) — it’ll be at the lowest of the low levels, and no team is going to cut any player with a future in baseball for him. Many players (here’s a random one) get a quick taste of the lower levels in the minors and then move on to something else in life.

It’s not like playing in Low-A ball is lucrative business. Many players actually make below the national poverty level. Many are extremely successful in another profession and leaving baseball when they did was best for their life — and also an incredible experience no one could ever take away.

If, for some ridiculous reason, one of the 30 MLB teams decides to sign Tebow, he’ll likely be doing someone a favor — even if said player doesn’t feel that way at the time.

Again, though, I’m not seeing it. Neither are some actual MLB scouts. From Baseball America:

“As gifted an athlete as the great Michael Jordan was, he had trouble with the speed of the game, especially hitting live,” said a veteran American League area scout. “For Tebow, I can imagine he’s shown some BP potential, however Ted Williams was right-hitting is the hardest thing to do in all of sports, and you add time off to that equation and it’s nearly impossible. His only shot would be as a pitcher.”

There’s more like that in the full article. In fairness, a former big-leaguer has been working out with him and thinks Tebow has a shot. He’s not a scout and seems to be pretty close to the situation, though.

5. “You just hate him because (insert non-sequitur).”

Oh, good lord. Grow up and learn how to argue with actual evidence. All of it points to Tebow not coming close to the majors, and that’s no insult. The great Michael Jordan couldn’t even do it. Most of us walking around never came close. There’s no shame in it. Someone believing Tebow doesn’t have a chance is simply someone who has paid attention to baseball for years.

And if we’re wrong? That’ll be one hell of a story.