Tyler Oringer: Well, this one is obvious. If you’ve been following any of my coverage throughout the season, you know how much I love the future first baseman for the Mets. The fact that the 23-year old was not called up this season in order to manipulate service time for his age 31 season is beyond belief – but hey, let’s stick to the good part.  Alonso finished his 2019 minor league campaign (65 games at Double-A, 67 in Triple-A) with 36 home runs, 119 RBIs and a triple slash of .285/.395/.579. The changes to his swing from 2017 were real, and allowed him to drive the ball to more fields with major league power, while also advancing his plate discipline to another level. The former Gator saw his OBP jump from .355 to the aforementioned .395.  Alonso finished a full minor league season between Double-A and Triple-A at 23 years old with an OPS of .975. Yes, his defense is not good, but the bat makes him the clear MVP of the Mets’ system in 2018.

Breakout prospect of the year: Jeff McNeil

Alex Rosen: Jeffrey, Jarrett and I were all on McNeil as a future major league contributor before July (and as early as 2014 in Jeffrey’s case) but we’d all be lying if we said we saw this coming. Injuries limited him to just 21 games above A-ball in 2016 and 2017 but McNeil rode a vastly improved frame and a new stomp and pull approach all the way to Queens before the end of July. He’s been the Mets’ best position player since the day he arrived in Flushing – not to mention one of the best players across all of baseball – and gives the organization another cost-controlled above-average regular to build around.

“Cy Young”: Um… Justin Dunn and David Peterson… I guess

TO: DISCLAIMER: I don’t feel comfortable giving either of these guys a Cy Young vote here, but the Mets didn’t really have any impressive season showings from any of their developing starting arms. Dunn, a 2016 first round pick out of Boston College, was okay this season but did improve greatly from 2017. He did struggle a bit in Double-A but flashed some of the potential the Mets have seen, striking out 156 batters in 135.1 innings. Control has continued to be an issue for the 22-year-old, but next season should be a massive stepping stone in his development. I’ve always felt his relief potential was immense and he could be extremely valuable there, but it would be quite the stretch to move him to the bullpen any time soon. Like Dunn, Peterson was good, not great. The 2017 first rounder dominated full-season A-ball, but was knocked around by Advanced-A hitting, surrendering 74 hits in 68.2 innings pitched. The southpaw already has the control and movement to be a legitimate prospect, he just needs to serve up fewer hittable pitches as he goes on.

Platinum Glove: Luis Guillorme

TO: A favorite of mine who was handled as poorly as he could have been in 2018.  Regardless, Guillorme is already an elite defender. If given the chance to start at shortstop or second base in a full major league season, the 23-year-old would challenge for a Gold Glove.  Guillorme flashes some of the smoothest actions and fluidness that any middle infielder in the minors has shown over the past few years. There is a lot to love about Guillorme, if the Mets could just figure out a way to best utilize his talents.

Comeback prospect of the year: Justin Dunn

AR: Dunn’s full-season debut couldn’t have gone much worse, but he rebounded nicely and took care of business in 2018, tossing about 90 innings in Binghamton en route to winning the organizations minor league pitcher of the year award. It was more of “meh” season by top pitching prospect standards, but even that was markedly better than Dunn’s 2017 in the Florida State League. There’s still a ton of room for improvement, especially with the change-up, but 2018 was without a doubt a step in the right direction. The stuff came back, the command improved and Dunn’s now one step closer to the big leagues.

Most likely to have their service time manipulated: Peter Alonso Andres Gimenez

AR: Oh, this is for the future? (looks at personal pref list…) Andres Gimenez it is! Until the rules change in the next CBA, teams are going to hold down top prospects to gain that extra year of control. It’s going to happen to Gimenez too, unless the Mets find themselves in a pennant race in 2019 with a hole to fill. Nevertheless, Gimenez had a tremendous 2018 season across Port St. Lucie and Binghamton, solidifying himself as one of the best prospects in the game.

The Ty Kelly Memorial Roster Spot: Gavin Cecchini

AR: Cecchini was off to a solid start in Las Vegas before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. He’s seemingly been around for forever, though he somehow won’t turn 25 ‘till December, but his spot on the 40-man is hanging by a thread. The former first rounder has never really received an extended stay with the big league club, but seems like a prime candidate to hang around as organizational depth for a number of years.

Best early return from the 2018 draft: Ross Adolph

TO: Adolph was drafted in the 12th round of the 2018 First Year Player Draft, but has already shown his value in his first year in Brooklyn. In my live look at Adolph, he did not get any hits or even take good routes to the ball in the field, but the athletically built outfielder owned a noticeably advanced approach at the plate and looked the part. The Toledo alum put up some nice number with the Cyclones, OPSing .857 with 14 stolen bases and an affinity for chasing down balls in the outfield.

Most likely to receive the Dominic Smith treatment: Mark Vientos

AR: Vientos still has a long ways to go before he’s a viable major league contributor, but he’s an early round pick who might find playing time hard to come by at the big league level. Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez look to be franchise cornerstones in the infield and Jeff McNeil’s not going anywhere anytime soon, leaving Vientos without a future home on the dirt as of now. Of course, these things tend to sort themselves out, but it hasn’t with Smith at the big league level for one reason or another. A similar fate could be awaiting Vientos, though we’re at least a couple of years away from having to even entertain the possibility.

Most likely to pitch too many high leverage innings: Kevin Smith

AR: The Mets went reliever heavy on Day Two of the 2018 MLB Draft, using a seventh rounder to grab Smith, a crafty SEC lefty with starting experience. There’s likely some internal hope that Smith can start, but having seen him this summer, I can tell you with confidence that that ain’t happening. He’s a future LOOGY in the Jerry Blevins/Daniel Zamora mold who’ll probably be overused like Blevins was in 2017. To be clear, a major league LOOGY is a fine outcome here, but the Mets have an affinity for Smith that I just personally don’t see.

The Reliever of the Carousel of Relievers Who Is Legit:  Drew Smith

TO: Bad timing – I know.  Anyway, Smith possesses true back-end relief talent which has come through in his every stop in the minors and more recently, the majors. I wrote about Smith back in Week 7 of the Prospect Watch, and stand by those previous comments.  Smith’s fastball and slider combination poses the potential for some elite late-inning stuff which has already come to fruition in 2018. When Sandy Alderson traded a fading Lucas Duda for a relief arm, people were concerned, but it would not be crazy to me if Smith is closing with success for New York in the near future.

Biggest Disappointment: Desmond Lindsay

TO: When Lindsay was drafted in the second round of the 2015 draft, big things were expected. The centerfielder looked to have the tools, body, and pedigree to turn into a major league regular, but things have just not transpired that way. Lindsay is still stuck in Advanced-A ball, and has not shown any reason to get out of it. The right-handed hitting high school pick has OPSed .715 and .640 in consecutive seasons – and unless he makes the necessary adjustments to his approach, his athleticism may end up going to waste. Injuries have hampered the 21-year old throughout his short career, so there is still a bit of hope – but change must come fast.

Happiest Met to head to Syracuse: Nabil Crismatt

AR: If Crismatt pitched the entire season in Binghamton, he’d have been my choice for the Cy Young award. Unfortunately, we can’t erase those nine starts in Las Vegas and Crismatt will instead have to settle for the “Happiest Met to head to Syracuse” designation. His strong season in Double-A proved there’s a future major league contributor here, but the disaster in the desert muddied things. The Mets will need to protect Crismatt from the Rule-5 draft this offseason by adding him to the 40-man roster, which currently seems like a toss-up at best. He should absolutely be protected, but this is the Mets and they’ll let him go to Oakland, where he’ll suddenly become a No.3 starter.

Best trade deadline acquisition: Franklyn Kilome

TO: This is quite obvious, but not because the other acquisitions were bad – it’s because Kilome, the only player from the Asdrubal Cabrera deal with the Phillies, is that good. The 6’6,” 175-pound 23-year old, has shown to have an advanced upper-90s fastball along with an impressive curveball which has a swing-and-miss movement. In Double-A, Kilome struck out 125 batters in 140 innings, but did walk 61.  Kilome needs to work on his control, but the young right-hander does flash the stuff to succeed as a major league starter – and should see time on the big league club at some point next year.

Most excited to see in 2019: Thomas Szapucki

AR: Szapucki missed the entire season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but is set to return to the mound in 2019. He’s only thrown a total of 83.1 innings in his brief career and will turn 23 next June, but Szapucki has undeniable upside that enticed virtually everyone who saw him. He flashed three potential plus offerings from a tough slot prior to the injury, giving him top of the rotation upside if he could simply stay healthy. There’s no question he’s behind the developmental curve, but 2019 could be a make or break season for the left-hander.

Tim Tebow Award: Tim Tebow

TO: Sorry, I just had to.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

UTIL Jeff McNeil

So I wrote up McNeil in week three of the Prospect Watch and concluded that he’s a better Phil Evans, which is exactly what I saw in Binghamton this past Wednesday. In 128 at-bats this season, McNeil’s slashing .328/.407/.719 with more home runs (12) than he combined for (9) in over 1,200 ABs over the past five years. McNeil isn’t your average 26-year-old in Double-A; injuries limited him to only 188 at-bats in the past two seasons, with his last full season coming back in 2015.

It took all of one measly inning to ask myself what McNeil was still doing in Binghamton. In his first at-bat of the game, he worked a 3-2 count against Top 101 prospect Beau Burrows and then promptly punished a curveball that missed middle-middle over the wall in right for a solo home run. It’s a beautiful left-handed swing with natural loft and I don’t think he’s selling out for this new power at the expense of his hit tool. McNeil made loud contact all night — even his outs made it to the warning track — and I thought his approach was way too advanced for Double-A. While McNeil does have pull power, he likes to go to the opposite field and his base hits seem to gravitate toward left center. It never looked like he was trying to do too much at the plate and, in his third at-bat against Burrows, he took a first-pitch fastball down and away for a line drive single to left. I will say that it remains to be seen if McNeil can carry this approach through Las Vegas and the majors, but the early returns are extremely promising.

McNeil didn’t just impress at the plate; he displayed good hands and feet out at second and didn’t look rushed. I think it’s average second base defense at peak, but McNeil has also seen time at third and shortstop, which would be a boon to his value. If the power surge is real, McNeil can be more than a future utility guy; he could be a fringe regular at second. There’s nothing left for him to prove in Binghamton and at 26, McNeil needs to be promoted so the Mets can see what they have here. Whatever it is, I’m confident that it’s better than whatever “value” Jose Reyes is bringing off the bench in Flushing.

LF Tim Tebow

With Juan Lagares out for the season and poor outfield depth in the upper levels of the organization, there’s a chance Tebow may be needed in the major leagues this season. Not to sell jerseys or improve attendance, I mean Tim Tebow may actually be needed for baseball reasons and honestly, credit Tebow and the Mets coaching staff for that. I was as big a skeptic as any when the signing was announced in 2016 but after seeing him four times this season, this really isn’t as crazy as was once thought.

This wasn’t a great look at Tebow — he was 0-4 with two strikeouts — but he didn’t look nearly as overmatched at the plate as he did earlier this season. In my first look back in April, Tebow was swinging through 88 mph fastballs from Dedgar Jimenez. Now, he’s catching up to 94 mph from top pitching prospects. To be fair, he’s still struggling to create meaningful contact against good velocity, but it’s an improvement nonetheless.

In the field, Tebow still needs a ton of reps. Deep fly balls are a struggle and he doesn’t take efficient routes to catchable balls. His footwork isn’t great and it’s like a 40 arm out in left. I’m still concerned about his ability to hit fastballs up in the zone and his two-strike approach needs work, but he’s by no means the laughing stock I expected to see when he was sent to Binghamton.

That being said, I’ve resigned to the fact that Tebow’s going to play in the major leagues and, well, you probably should too. As I previously mentioned, that’s primarily because of the depth, or lack thereof, in the upper levels of the minors. But look, they didn’t sign him to toil away in the minors and Sandy Alderson said this spring that Tebow’s going to play in the big leagues.

1B Peter Alonso

Alonso was in the lineup as the designated hitter, so I was unable to get another look at him in the field. His defense has been far from good in my previous looks, but the Mets have publicly said that they’re satisfied with his progress and believe he’s playable at first. I’ve seen the improvement on ground balls — he hasn’t had trouble on a grounder for me in three looks and he’s actually made a couple of nice plays — but it’s uncomfortable watching Alonso try to catch a pop-up.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed this either, as our own Jeffrey Paternostro saw Alonso two weeks ago and asked me if he’d looked wildly uncomfortable on pop-ups in my looks too. It’s a problem with few solutions and honestly, I’m not sure how much better it’s going to get at this point. The reason we’re even talking about Alonso in the first place is because he can hit and hit for power and if he does that at the major league level, no one’s going to bat an eye when he awkwardly drops a foul ball.

With the word out on Alsono and every pitcher in the Eastern League seemingly pitching around him, he’s cooled down a bit at the dish. Alonso was 0-2 with two walks Wednesday, but he didn’t try to force the issue and didn’t chase a single ball on the evening. He’s running a .475 OBP and I’ve seen enough at this point that I’m confident he should skip Triple-A. I don’t think there’s anything for him to learn in Vegas and the hitting environment isn’t going to tell us anything we don’t already know. Alonso’s ready to be challenged at the major league level. When that actually happens, and it quite honestly already should have (see Soto, Juan), still remains to be seen.

RF Jhoan Urena

Urena started in right for Binghamton Wednesday, but there’s no world, certainly not the one we’re currently living in, in which he’s a right fielder. He had quite possibly the worst misplay I’ve ever seen live, as he misjudged a line drive hit directly at him. Urena stepped forward three steps, then back and jumped to catch the ball, ultimately dropping it.

I saw him at third earlier this season and while he did look much better there, he’s not a third baseman either. He has slow feet and his reaction time isn’t great, which isn’t a good recipe for a big league third basemen. He can be an emergency starter at third, but he’s a first baseman or left fielder in the majors.

Despite having already spent six years with the organization, this season is Urena’s first in Double-A. He’s still only 23 years old and has more than held his own at the dish, slashing .286/.322/.459 thus far. It’s a max effort swing in any count and Urena can get pull happy, especially from the left side. He hits too many infield fly balls, which are basically as good as a strikeout, for my liking. With this defensive profile though, Urena is going to need to show more game power. Improved game power is the difference here between a shot in the majors and a career in the minors.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

Las Vegas 51s (Triple-A)

Pitcher: Tim Peterson

I haven’t seen him live and don’t have a recent report on him, but I can’t ignore Peterson’s performance in Las Vegas any longer. A 20th round pick in 2012, Peterson’s striking out almost 40% of batters to go with a pristine 2.91 ERA in 17 appearances this season. The fact he’s doing it in the hitter’s paradise that is Las Vegas makes it all the more impressive. This level of performance isn’t coming out of nowhere; he was really good for Binghamton last season too, with a strikeout rate above 26% and a 1.14 ERA. Combine that with a 5% walk rate and there may be something here. There is some inevitable drawback though. Peterson is 27 years old, isn’t on the 40-man and wasn’t selected in the Rule 5 draft. He only ran a 31.1% groundball rate in Double-A last season but he excels at keeping the ball in the park. I don’t know what the Mets have here and they clearly don’t either, but if a 40-man spot opens up I think Peterson could be worth a look. If he doesn’t get a chance with the Mets, some team is going to see the minor league numbers and give him a chance.

Hitter: Dominic Smith

I’ll refer you to the recent piece BP Mets writer Tyler Oringer and I wrote on Smith, but let’s talk a little more about what happened last week. With Jay Bruce heading to the paternity list for the weekend series against Philadelphia, the Mets had the bright idea to use the roster spot on Smith. It was a curious choice that became even more controversial when Smith took only one official plate appearance in the shortened series. Smith’s a former first rounder who made a couple of Top 100 lists, but his prospect shine wore off completely when he flopped in the majors last season. He’s now been passed by Peter Alonso as the first baseman of the future and there doesn’t seem to be a role for Smith at the major league level. Smith’s got a good glove at first but if the Mets didn’t plan to start him, wouldn’t Phillip Evans (whose since been called up) have made more sense?  I couldn’t tell you one good reason why Smith got the call, but I can tell you that he hasn’t been great in Vegas. Smith’s striking out in 23% of his plate appearances and has only two home runs in 119 at-bats. That’s a problem when you’re a 1B only prospect. It’s hard to decipher what the Mets plan to do with Smith at this point, but I wouldn’t put anything past this organization.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A)

Pitcher: Andrew Church

Church is off to an interesting, if uninspiring, start to the 2018 season. On one hand, he’s been relatively healthy and has bumped his K/9 from 5.79 in Port St. Lucie last season to 7.68 with Binghamton thus far. Health and strikeout rate have been two of the biggest knocks on Church as a prospect, so it’s nice to see the improvement on both fronts. On the other hand, though, he’s been getting hit hard and his fastball has backed up a bit. I was in Binghamton Wednesday night to see Church for the third time this season and he was mired in the same inconsistencies that have plagued him all year. In four innings of work, Church was knocked around for eight hits and six earned, but he also struck out eight. Church has touched 95 in the past, but repeated arm injuries have taken a toll and I’ve had him in the 88-92 range, topping at 93, in all three of the starts I’ve seen. The fastball doesn’t have great movement and Church has really struggled to locate it in my past two looks, so much so that he’s pretty much abandoned it following the first inning. Instead, he’s been primarily working with an 82-84 mph slider that’s easily his best pitch at this point. He’s comfortable throwing it in any count, for strikes and whiffs, and it’s flashed average for me in all three looks. Church also has a changeup I haven’t seen much of and a curve that’s rarely thrown but shows signs of usefulness. The curve sits 74-78 mph with good depth but is mainly reserved for two-strike counts. I mentioned that Church has abandoned his fastball after the first inning in my two most recent looks, and he’s seen some really good results for the next couple of innings. The second and third times around the order are a problem though, as opposing hitters have gotten a good look at the slider and are just sitting on it. I don’t think there’s enough here for Church to cut it as a starter at the major league level, but he could be a guy who moves to the bullpen in a middle relief role and sees a needed velo bump.

Hitter: Tim Tebow

Love him or hate him, Tebow’s surpassed all expectations at Double-A, slashing .248/.323/.419 in almost 120 at-bats. I was as skeptical as everyone when this whole thing began, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I’ve seen in my four looks this season. Now don’t get me wrong, we’re not talking about a future superstar here, or anything close for that matter, but take the name off the back of the jersey and Tebow looks and plays like your average Double-A outfielder. The problem here is Tebow’s already 30 years old and anything but your average minor league baseball player.

Tebow’s been swinging a hot bat recently, giving me hope for a better look than my previous ones, but I was left disappointed yet again. We’ll start at the plate, where he actually didn’t look as overmatched against good velo as he did earlier in the season. His first at-bat was a nine-pitch, six foul-ball battle against Beau Burrows that was easily the best AB I’ve seen from him all season. The swing looks better than it did even earlier this year and I’m more confident than before that he can catch up to major league fastballs. That’s the good news.

The bad news is he’s still kind of a mess in left field. He really struggles to track deep fly balls and to be honest, he kind of looks lost out there. His footwork isn’t good and he takes bad routes to balls that he should easily catch. For a former NFL QB, his arm leaves a lot to be desired. I know that’s primarily the reason he’s out of the NFL and in MLB, but one would think he’d get a little more zip on his throws in from the outfield. Back to the hitting side of things; Tebow still swings through fastballs up in the zone, something that’s going to get exposed by major league pitching when he reaches that level. The off-speed recognition still isn’t there either, but that’s something that should improve with more experience and it’s hard to knock a guy who was out of the game for 10 years.

There’s a real argument to be made that Tebow is one of the best outfield options in the high minors of this system. Now, that’s more of a reflection on the outfield depth in the system rather than his talent, but we’ve officially entered “this isn’t crazy” territory. He’s going to get a chance in the majors this year or next.

Port St. Lucie Mets (High-A)

Hitter: Andres Gimenez

The No. 1 prospect in the system, Gimenez is more than holding his own as a 19-year-old in High-A. Port St. Lucie was an aggressive assignment to begin the season, but Gimenez destroyed rookie ball and showed enough promise in Columbia last season that it didn’t feel forced. He doesn’t have a standout tool, but Gimenez projects as a major league shortstop with some skills at the dish. A left-handed hitter, he has good bat control and should grow into a plus hit tool eventually. There is some projection left, but not enough to project average game power, which may not be a problem considering Gimenez already hits a bunch of line drives. The line, .262/.331/.418, is actually really impressive for a 19-year-old in High-A, as are the 12 extra base hits. Gimenez is also an above-average runner and has nine stolen bases against two caught stealing’s. Out in the field, he has good actions at short and a strong enough arm that should allow him to stick there. Gimenez isn’t tooled up, but it’s an impressive package coupled with great results thus far. Gimenez should be a frequent member of the Prospect Watch for years to come.

Columbia Fireflies (A)

Pitcher: David Peterson

The Mets’ first-round draft pick last season is off to a good, if not great, start with Columbia. Peterson’s a tall lefty out of Oregon with a chance for three above-average offerings. He stands 6’6” and looks intimidating out on the mound, but he’s not a power pitcher by any means. His fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 95, but Peterson gets great movement on it. There probably isn’t a whole ton of projection left on the fastball, but it’s already above average so that shouldn’t be a big problem. Peterson also throws a slider and a changeup that both flash above average. He throws the slider more often, but the changeup might be the better future offering, although it does need some more work. In 30.2 innings for Columbia this season, Peterson is only running a 20.5% strikeout rate, which isn’t all that promising for the first returns on a collegiate first rounder. He is running a terrific 64% groundball rate though, which is very encouraging. Currently the best pitching prospect in the system, Peterson is more of a No. 3 starter than someone with ace or even No. 2 potential. His value mainly derives from the fact that he should be able to climb the minor league ladder relatively quickly. If the changeup doesn’t develop, Peterson should still be able to carve out a role as a big league reliever. Like Gimenez, look for Peterson to make frequent appearances on the Prospect Watch in the coming years.

Photo credit: Scott Rovak – USA Today Sports

1B Peter Alonso

A former 2nd round pick in the 2016 draft, Alonso had a terrific 2017 at the dish but failed to answer lingering questions about his defense and conditioning. Alonso hit .289/.359/.524 across two levels last year, spending 82 games with High-A Port St. Lucie before finishing the season with Double-A Binghamton for 11 games. In our own Jeffrey Paternostro’s and the BP prospect staff’s ranking of the organizations top 10 prospects, Alonso found himself ranked seventh due to the combination of hit and power potential he possesses.

After a bad first inning strikeout in which he swung and missed at two consecutive 89 mph fastballs up in the zone, Alonso reached base in all three of his remaining at-bats. The hit tool was as advertised, as I saw Alonso take a two-strike fastball down and away over the right fielder’s head for an RBI double in his third at-bat. I was impressed with Alonso’s bat-to-ball skills; he gets his bat to the ball quickly, which allows him an extra sliver of a second to see the incoming pitch. In the field, Alonso did little to answer the defensive questions that have surrounded him since college. On one hand, he made an impressive play looking a runner back to third on a hard hit grounder with the infield in. On the other, he had a lot of trouble with a routine pop out in foul territory, taking a bad route to it and almost dropping it. I don’t think the defense was bad enough that he can’t field his position adequately, but there’s no denying it’s below league average. With his approach and power potential, Alonso looks like he fits the everyday first basemen profile at the dish.

C Tomas Nido

Nido is a former 8th rounder who was added to the 40-man roster after the 2016 season. A defense-first catcher, he struggled with the bat in 2017, hitting a paltry .232/.287/.354 in 102 games for Double-A Binghamton. He was a September call-up for the Mets and collected three hits in 10 at-bats. Nido ranked sixth, one spot ahead of Alonso in the organizations top 10 over at our main site.

Nido was in the lineup at DH Saturday, so I wasn’t able to get a look at his oft-raved about defense. He fell behind 1-2 in his first at-bat but took an 81 mph slider down and away to right field for a leadoff double. The bat control was impressive, and the pitch recognition he showed throughout the game was a welcome sign considering his .287 OBP last season. Nido made a swing change last season, using a leg kick in an effort to more effectively get to his raw power. The leg kick wasn’t as pronounced on Saturday as it was last season, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you ask. I would rather see him try to sell out for power than hit an empty .265 in the majors, but it appears the Mets feel otherwise. With the bases loaded in the 5th, Nido took the first pitch he saw to right center for a three-run double. If Nido can get to his 60 raw power in games, he’s going to develop into an easy top 100 prospect in all of baseball.

RHP Andrew Church

Church is another former 2nd rounder and has shown signs of developing into useful rotation depth for the Mets. 2017 was his best season as a pro as he threw 152 innings with a 4.62 ERA for High-A Port St. Lucie, but he only struck out 95 batters resulting in a 6.25 K/9. Church was sitting 88-90 mph with his fastball for me, it’s straight and lacks movement, but his late release point causes it to come inside to lefties and away from righties. The delivery isn’t great, it’s max effort and doesn’t do his control any favors. His best weapon was a slider that had significant right to left movement and is a weapon against lefties. I saw a couple of 45/50 sliders and he was sitting 82-85 with it on the afternoon. The slider is Church’s go-to with two strikes and it generates a significant amount of swings and misses.

Church also showed a below average curveball that was 70-72 and is only thrown with two strikes. He did throw a couple 40 curves though, striking out Mike Olt with one to end the 3rd inning. Developing a third pitch is necessary for Church, as he works quickly and pitches to contact, which limits his pitch count but explains the low K/9. Church did have six strikeouts on the afternoon, and if he can elevate the K/9 to somewhere in the 8.0 range, his outlook immediately improves. The right-hander currently projects as Quad-A rotation depth, with a small chance for more if he can find a useful third pitch.

RHP Eric Hanhold

Hanhold was the PTBNL acquired from the Brewers in last year’s Neil Walker trade. Formerly a starter, the Mets have elected to move Hanhold to the bullpen, and he looked great in his 2018 debut outing Saturday. The flame-throwing right-hander was the most impressive player I saw on the afternoon, as he was sitting 94-96 with his fastball, even hitting 99 mph out of the pen. The fastball, a four-seamer that sometimes shows two-seam run, has great sinking action and induces a ton of ground balls. It’s already comfortably plus and even flashed plus-plus for me on the afternoon. The pitch is currently at least a 60 with the potential for a lot more at peak. Hanhold posted a groundball rate around 60% last season, which is fantastic for a potential high leverage reliever.

Unsurprisingly for a pitcher in the Mets organization, Hanhold also throws a slider, but it’s a well-developed pitch that sits 87-89 mph. The slider showed tight break and flashed plus for me, and Hanhold is comfortable throwing it in any count. I saw a 55 slider in a 3-0 count to Conrad Gregor in the 6th inning, and Hanhold eventually got Gregor to ground out to second. With a potential plus-plus fastball and plus slider, Hanhold projects as a high leverage reliever that could reach Triple-A Las Vegas by the end of the season.  I really like Hanhold and think he’s a got a shot as a potential 55 closer down the road.

RHP Tyler Bashlor

Bashlor struck out 61 batters in only 34 innings last season at High-A Port St. Lucie. He threw two scoreless innings on Saturday, striking out two. The fastball was sitting 91-93, it topped out at 94 mph, and he threw it almost exclusively. That’s a large step down from the 94-98 mph he was reportedly sitting at last season. It could be due to the cold temperatures and I’m not ready to write the velocity off completely until I get a couple more looks, but it’s interesting to say the least. When he wasn’t throwing his fastball, Bashlor was using his 82 mph slurve to keep hitters off balance. The slurve has a ton of right to left movement and drop, although it’s easy to spot coming out of his hand. I saw at least one 55 slurve and it has potential to be a real weapon for Bashlor. Bashlor is definitely someone to keep an eye on this season and he has 7th inning potential at peak.

LF Tim Tebow

After going yard in his first at-bat of the season, on the first pitch he saw, Tebow is 0-6 and failed to generate any hard contact Saturday. The swing is max effort and it seems as if Tebow is trying to hit a home run every single time he steps up to the plate. His bat speed isn’t great either, as he was behind on 88-89 mph fastballs all throughout the afternoon. Tebow looked uncomfortable facing left-handers and is looking for strictly fastballs he can hit out of the park. I don’t think Tebow looked all that different from last season, but it’s only been two games and he has the whole season to prove us wrong. I would be shocked to see Tebow reach Triple-A Las Vegas in 2018.

Here’s a video of @RumblePoniesBB LF Tim Tebow in the 6th inning. Tebow struck out swinging. #Tebow #Mets pic.twitter.com/YgNmSGk6nB

— Alex Rosen (@asros213) April 7, 2018

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

“I genuinely don’t even know how to evaluate Tebow as a prospect. He’s 29 in Low-A, but his ‘baseball age’ is probably closer to some of the recently-drafted prep guys he was playing with. Jeffrey Paternostro and I were batting around comparisons, and came up with everything from ‘two-way high school player drafted as a pitcher and converted to a hitter after blowing out’ (read: Stetson Allie) to ‘Cuban toolbox gets held up in the defection process for years’ (read: older Andy Ibanez) to ‘super-athlete from non-baseball country is discovered late’ (read: Rinku Singh, but a hitter).

He is certainly a super athlete, a point I made when he was signed but is even more noticeable when he’s lined up next to baseball prospects who get noted for their athleticism, like Desmond Lindsay. Tebow is tall and built like an Adonis, the type of body that rarely ends up in baseball and stands out when it does.”

Photo credit: Joshua S. Kelly – USA Today Sports

It’s impossible to explain college football in the south if you haven’t been there. I spent 15 years in Florida and I still don’t quite get it. But there it is, dictating weekend schedules and friendships. In SEC territory, fall weddings are required to have TVs at the reception. Couples have broken up over team rivalries; no, seriously, I know a few. Tebow failing in the NFL doesn’t matter. He’s the pride and joy of the Sunshine State.

So when he decided to give baseball a try, I took 10 minutes to laugh and then texted everyone I still talk to from UF (there are only like three of them). Can you imagine if Tebow goes back to orange and blue after all this time?

He did, of course. On Sept. 8, before 8:00 a.m. and as everyone was groggily straggling into the office, Tebow became a Met.

I know the arguments against the signing:

1. That $100,000 signing bonus could have gone to someone else, to an actual prospect or to someone who needs the money. Tebow is neither of these things. But were the Wilpons really going to reallocate those funds elsewhere if they hadn’t signed him? Probably not. I’d rather he gets the money than they pocket it.
2. The former quarterback has controversial–I don’t want to get political, so we’ll just go with controversial–opinions and he’s been given another stage from which to proselytize. These are the opinions you get from the south. And if he hadn’t signed with the Mets, he still would have had a home at the SEC Network. Tebow’s controversial opinions weren’t going anywhere. Now at least maybe he’ll be too busy in batting practice to film commercials. And remember: this is a team that willingly, eagerly signed Jose Reyes, who was only made available after allegedly shoving his wife into a sliding glass balcony door in Maui. Morals are moot.
3. He’s going to take playing time from an actual baseball player. I asked Jeffrey Paternostro, Baseball Prospectus senior prospect writer and BP Mets writer and For All You Kids Out There podcast host and whatever other title he’s added this week, for a name–not a lecture, just a name–of a player whose spot is going to be lost when Tebow rides into town. I got the lecture anyway, but I also got a name: Arnaldo Berrios. I feel bad that Berrios is going to lose playing time. I really do. I’m sure he’s a great kid. But if it weren’t Tebow taking his at-bats, someone else was going to.
4. Tebow is probably, almost definitely, bad at baseball. Of course he’s bad at baseball. He’s not a baseball player. He doesn’t have baseball instincts. He hasn’t spent every free hour on a backfield playing long toss like hundreds of other minor league players have. No one thinks he’s going to be good at baseball. (Don’t cite batting practice home runs. Don’t respect people who cite batting practice home runs, either.)

The Mets don’t care if Tebow’s bad at baseball, because that’s not why they signed him. As soon as they were able to sell his shirseys, they stopped caring about getting him onto the 40-man roster too. The Tebow signing was about entertainment. The Wilpons have a product to sell, and that product is the Mets. Sure, that product is easier to sell when it’s hitting home runs and winning Cy Young Awards, but above all, they’re selling entertainment. And Tebow is entertaining.

The people want Tim Tebow. It’s as simple as that. For all their faults, the Mets aren’t stupid. They wouldn’t have signed Tebow without a plan. They’ll send him to Columbia or St. Lucie, to a team in a town that already trembles at his name. Those are the people who want to see Tebow in a Mets uniform. They’ll buy tickets and shirseys and line up along the left field fence for his autograph. They already did, in fact–a day after Tebow jerseys were made available online, they were the second most popular Mets nameplate sold at Fanatics, behind only Noah Syndergaard. Those fans are the ones the Mets front office cares about.

We forget sometimes, those of us who live online, on Baseball Twitter and in comment sections, that your “common baseball fan” does none of those things. Not “common baseball fan” in the negative sense it’s taken on, to mean stupid and ignorant. “Common baseball fan” as in the person who goes to the stadium purely for fun, who picks a favorite player because he made a great catch one time in an irrelevant Tuesday game in May. That’s the fan who MLB, and the Mets, care about. And that’s the fan who wants to see Tim Tebow play baseball.

Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas–USA Today Sports

( * – Florida State grad / Editor’s Note: No one is perfect.)

Thomas Szapucki, LHP

As a live-armed prep pick in the mid-single digit rounds, Szapucki’s 2016 wasn’t totally out of nowhere. But the jump from low-90s and a promising curve to mid-90s with sharp action and a wipeout curve is pretty huge, and the numbers Szapucki put up in both Kingsport and Brooklyn were absolutely staggering. A back injury ended his 2016 slightly prematurely, and while we don’t believe it to be a serious injury, back problems and pitching prospects don’t always go well together. If Szapucki continues to progress his stuff, and if he continues to run strikeout rates into the mid-teens per nine, our ranking of him as the 69th-best prospect in baseball will no longer seem nice by this time next year. He’ll probably open in Low-A Columbia as part of the traveling Tim Tebow Circus, but High-A and even Double-A are within reach for later in the season. — Jarrett Seidler

Andres Gimenez, SS

I got a question in a BP chat recently asking me to compare Kevin Maitan and Andres Gimenez. Sammy in Connecticut seemed a bit skeptical that there was really that big a gap between them as prospects. I’m fairly confident that Maitan’s surfeit of offensive tools is enough to make him a Top 101 prospect before he ever takes the field for a professional game, stateside or otherwise. I get the premise though. Gimenez was very highly rated in the 2015 July 2 class, and we have reports on him from actual games, granted ones from the Dominican Summer League. It’s all data of course, but the best data can be found behind home plate, which is why I will be trucking to whatever short-season affiliate he ends up at this year to find out if we were in fact a year too late on him. I expect to find a polished shortstop and an advanced hitter for an 18-year-old, like if someone used the upgrade meme on Luis Carpio. But I suspect Gimenez has the capacity to surprise me as well, which is why I keep gassing up the car for East Tennessee every year. And speaking of Carpio … — Jeffrey Paternostro

Luis Carpio, SS/2B

We ranked Luis Carpio as the third-best prospect in the Mets system heading into the 2016 season. We ranked him ahead of Dom Smith, Desmond Lindsay, and Robert Gsellman. (I say we, but I was driving that bandwagon, and my byline is on the list.) Then Carpio tore his labrum in the Spring. See, it’s not just pitchers! It was an aggressive ranking at the time for a kid that spent most of the 2015 season as a 17-year-old, but it’s rare to find that level of defensive polish and advanced hitting ability at any age in the short-season leagues. The injury was to his right shoulder, and his arm was already maybe better suited to the right side of the infield, but I’m antsy to check in on the still-only-19-year-old. He made quite the first impression. — Jeffrey Paternostro

Tyler Bashlor, RHP

The Mets turned some heads in 2013, when they handed a $550,000 signing bonus to their 11th-round pick, junior college reliever Tyler Bashlor. After signing with the club, he pitched in 13 games for Kingsport that year, but then didn’t throw another professional pitch until 2016, losing two full seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In a 2016 season that was spent primarily pitching out of the bullpen for the Columbia Fireflies, Bashlor showed why the Mets believed in him enough to give him more than half of a million dollars three years prior, posting a 12.16 K/9 and 2.50 ERA at the level. His fastball, which sits in the mid-90s and touched as high as 98 mph in 2016, is a legitimate swing-and-miss pitch that should carry him to Queens. The bigger questions for Bashlor are his secondary pitches and control. His command and control should figure to take strides forward in 2017 as he is another year removed from surgery. His slurve, which currently sits in the low-80s, is a pitch that could be improved upon (attn: Dan Warthen). If Bashlor is able to progress enough with command and the breaking ball, he will find himself on the fast track to pitching out of the Mets bullpen before too long. He figures to open this season in the bullpen for either St. Lucie or Binghamton. If all goes well, he won’t finish the season with the same affiliate that he began the year with. — Skyler Kanfer

Marcos Molina, RHP

The continuing saga of Zack Wheeler reminds us on a near-daily basis that Tommy John surgery is still anything but routine. Yet Marcos Molina has had, well, the “routine” recovery, popping back up about a year out from surgery. He used the Arizona Fall League as something of a rehab stint, throwing short outings and flashing the premium fastball/slider combination that made him one of the system’s best pitching prospects two years ago. With violent mechanics, a TJS in his background, and durability questions even before that, Molina still might be a reliever in the end, but 2017 represents his shot to get back on the fast track as a prospect. He could open as high as the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, and a pitcher on the 40 in the high-minors is of course only a phone call away from The Show. — Jarrett Seidler

Andrew Church, RHP

The 2013 second-round pick spent years in the wilderness bouncing around the lowest levels of the system as an oft-injured project, largely falling off the prospectdom map. In a tale that’s been around as long as there have been pitching prospects, he showed up in 2016 a new man, coming out of extended spring in May to shine for Low-A Columbia, mixing in a fill-in stint in High-A Port St. Lucie and a late-August emergency appearance for hometown Triple-A Las Vegas. Once again touching the mid-90s with his fastball and featuring a promising slider, Church could start back at High-A or get a bump to Double-A, where I think I have a pretty good chance to see him in Binghamton’s late-May/early-June visit to Trenton. A full year of effectiveness should get him in strong consideration for both a spot on both the 40-man roster and high up on next year’s prospect lists. — Jarrett Seidler

Desmond Lindsay, OF

Beyond the trio of Mets prospects who made the BP 101 list, there is not a prospect in the Mets farm system with more upside than Desmond Lindsay. Lindsay, the organization’s top draft pick in 2015, is a centerfielder with all the raw tools that any scout would fawn over. In 2016, Lindsay’s performance represented his skillset, as he posted a .297/.418/.450 line with the Brooklyn Cyclones, including a .344 True Average*, 14.9 percent walk rate, and 19.4 percent strikeout rate. Unfortunately, since his senior year of high school, Lindsay has had considerable hamstring issues. They kept his sidelined for most of his draft year, which caused him to fall to the Mets in the second round, and they have continued to hamper him since signing with the club. Recurring injuries for a teenager could very well be the sign of, well, more hamstring injuries, or it could be something that a player as young as Lindsay, just 20, could outgrow. In the near-future, Lindsay could very easily be a guy who is being talked about as the next uber Mets prospect—or, in other words, the Amed Rosario of two years from now—or he could be a guy who is being talked about as the new Reese Havens. His performance and health in 2017, where he most likely will open in Columbia, will tell the story. — Skyler Kanfer

( * – Editor’s Note: For those of you curious, those numbers indicate that he hit about as well compared to his league as Joey Votto did compared to MLB.) 

Tomas Nido, C

The ride hasn’t always been smooth for the 2012 eighth-round pick, who prior to 2016 had never posted a minor league OPS higher than .660. However, over those first few years of his minor league career, his defensive game advanced from raw at best to his calling card. Due to his overall strong catching ability and above-average arm, he was able to open the 2016 in St. Lucie at age-22. Last season, his bat finally started catching up to his glove. In a full season in the pitching-friendly Florida State League, Nido posted a .320/.357/.459 line with seven homers and a .294 True Average in 370 PA. He more than halved his strikeout rate, going from a 25.7 percent clip in Savannah to a very respectable 11.4 percent in 2016. If he is able to combine his developed defensive skills with his newfound hitting ability, he has a chance to be a starting catcher. Nido, who was praised when he was drafted for having plus raw power, still has plenty of room to turn that power into game power. Doing that, in addition to potentially increasing upon his 5.1 percent walk rate from 2016, could make him a viable long-term answer for the Mets behind the dish. I look forward to watching Nido play in person in Binghamton starting this April. — Skyler Kanfer

Luis Guillorme, SS

If you are reading this website, you don’t need to be told that Amed Rosario or Justin Dunn or Desmond Lindsay are worth the price of admission. The implication in all these entries is that we want to see something new. There are guys here with 2016 breakout seasons that we didn’t get enough reports on. There are injured pitchers on their way back who have flashed major league stuff in the recent past. You want a sleeper or you want to know if the breakout guy is real. Prospects can change a lot from year-to-year, but I don’t expect I will be updating my priors much on Luis Guillorme. If anything, I worry a bit about his bat against Double-A velocity. But goddamn am I happy to have him within driving distance again. Rosario has the louder defensive tools and is a plus shortstop in his own right, but there is no one I would rather watch at the 6 than Guillorme. His defense has an ineffable quality to it. Immanuel Kant would suggest that’s his glove is far too functional in scope to have true aesthetic beauty, but I part ways with the German on that. Kant more famously wrote that one should “live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.” Guillorme’s actions in the field set the bar too high for every other shortstop I’m afraid, but I am happy to see him synthesize utility and art in the infield as often as possible this year. — Jeffrey Paternostro

Tim Tebow, QB/OF?

Tim Tebow isn’t a real baseball prospect. He’s probably not going to make the majors, and if he does it’s likely to be in a cameo that he won’t have earned based on his own merits. But he is an elite athlete—a player so uniquely talented at football that he was a first-round quarterback despite a known and near-complete inability to make pro throws—and his transition to baseball will be nothing if not fascinating. Can he compete even at the lowest levels? He’s currently expected to open at Low-A Columbia, which is an appropriate level for what we suspect is his baseball ability, but a level where he’ll be about a decade older than the real prospects. Both Jeffrey and I are preparing for the circus for when Columbia comes to Lakewood early in the season. (We totally didn’t throw Tebow in down here because we were dividing a list of ten between three people and had one slot left over, no sir.) — Jarrett Seidler

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It is, of course, impossible to know if Tebow’s signing precipitated the end of Sabol or Lupo’s tenure with the Mets. But both were at least still on the somewhat promising side of organizational players—Lupo was a regular with Low-A Columbia when he was healthy, and Sabol played right field for much of Double-A Binghamton’s season. And yet just a month after the minor-league season, they were unceremoniously dumped in a transaction only noted by Baseball America and the most diehard of fans.

About three years ago, in the 2013-14 offseason, a friend asked me what Mets prospect outside the top 30 or so I thought had the best chance to be a good major-league player. Now, it might seem like going that deep on a team would get you all the good major-leaguers, but I don’t think T.J. Rivera, Hansel Robles, and Seth Lugo were all that close to a top-30 prospect on the 2014 lists. Robert Gsellman would’ve been right on the border. Most orgs at a given time have guys outside the top 30 who will be decent major-league players, perhaps not quite as many or as good as those four, but at least someone. But I had no clairvoyance here, because my answer wasn’t Gsellman, Robles, Rivera, or Lugo. My answer was toolsy outfielder Stefan Sabol, coming off a .203/.298/.345 season at Low-A Savannah.

Admittedly, I’ve always liked Stefan Sabol as a prospect. Part of it was his background, which was way more interesting than your standard middle-rounds junior college player. He was a potential early-round draftee in 2010 as a high school catcher/outfielder, but was viewed as unsignable due to a strong commitment to Oregon. Sabol ultimately didn’t sign as a 17th-round pick of the Braves. As a true freshman, he was Oregon’s starting leftfielder for parts of the season, but battled a broken hand in an up-and-down season. He transferred to a community college for the 2012 season, making him eligible for the draft a year earlier than he otherwise would have been, and the Mets popped him, again as a 17th-rounder. This time he signed for $100,000—the highest you can pay an 11th-rounder or later without chipping into your bonus pool–ironically the same signing bonus Tebow would sign for four years later as an undrafted free agent.

On top of that kind of intriguing baseball background, Sabol has some interesting bloodlines; his cousins include star NFL safety Troy Polamalu and professional wrestler Samoa Joe. As you could imagine, he’s an excellent athlete. In my viewings, he’d often put up impressive shows in batting practice, and would sometimes hit the ball really hard in games too. But the swing went through lots of iterations, and it was never really all that good—just good enough that I would come away from each game thinking that next time, I might see the potential actualized. It never happened.

It ended up taking Sabol two-and-a-half seasons to get out of Low-A, and the batting practice shows didn’t appear in games so much. I still thought there was a shot he’d figure it out, but he just never really did hit to any substantial degree. He hit only .229/.316/.362 in Binghamton in 2016, and at the age of 24, time was running out. The flame might not have been totally out, but an extra outfielder or two in the organization was going to get squeezed because Tim Tebow needs 2017 at-bats somewhere.

It’s highly, highly unlikely that Sabol (or Lupo) was destined to make the major-leagues. But, you never know. As I pointed out on the BP mothership at the time of Tebow’s signing, just last year Phillip Evans could have been this bubble player, and instead he won the Eastern League batting title and reestablished himself as a real prospect. It is unlikely Stefan Sabol would have underwent a similar career turnaround, but ask yourself this: is it less likely than Tim Tebow turning into a major-league ballplayer starting out at 29? The world may never know.

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

This by far seems the team’s most newsworthy concern—have the Mets picked up something contagious in their travels? Were they abducted by aliens who, due to the time lag in transmissions travelling over great intergalactic distances, still think N’Sync is a thing? Is there an intruder on the loose in the clubhouse brandishing a bottle of Sun-In, lying in wait for his next victim? Can the spread be stopped!?

Unfortunately, we have no answers to these extremely pressing questions because the mainstream sports media has been inordinately preoccupied with Tim Tebow. Which brings me to perhaps the most pressing question of all—who cares?

While Tebow comes with his own cadre of super fans for whom the bizarre phenomenon of the Mets Tebow jersey was no doubt created and who continue to propel all the hype, it seems most actual baseball fans are paying only marginally more attention to Tebow than they do any instructional league player (nil), and even then mostly by accident in that it’s hard to avoid the media barrage.

I think, though, we blasé New York fans have got it right this time—rather than waste time wondering whether he’s the next big thing, or if he will drive everyone in the clubhouse insane, or if his contract will somehow take down the whole franchise, the best course of action is to ignore him and let this thing run its course; as my colleague has written here previously, Tebow is unlikely to make any impact on the team at all. Scores of minor leaguers never make it to the majors, and I’ve got no expectations that Tebow will be any different. (Though of course the USA Today report that Tebow hit his first home run in Port St. Lucie came through literally as I wrote this paragraph.) Maybe the Mets’ hitting coaches will be able to make something of those beefy biceps after all. If not, he’ll be just like any of the many other talented athletes the Mets drafted this year who’ll never see the lights of Citi Field.

Really though—it’s not like Tebow is breaking new ground; he’s hardly the first athlete to jump the line from one professional sport to another. In fact, the Mets already have one such legend! This great talent was first a football running back, and he received a scholarship to Penn State where he excelled midst a strong football program. He led the team in rushing and was named the 1986 Nittany Lions’ MVP after scoring the winning touchdown in the Fiesta Bowl. He went on to play professionally for the NFL’s Vikings and Lions. He started his crossover by playing baseball in the off-season, then eventually left the NFL for good. As a left fielder, he managed a strong career line of .270/.362/.445. At his peak in 1990 he was hitting .303/.386/.496, with 80 RBI and 36 stolen bases in 42 attempts—you can’t teach fast!

So who is this superman? You guessed it—it’s the great D.J. Dozier!

Sure, Dozier’s 1990 “peak” happened to occur while he was playing for the High-A and Double-A St. Lucie and Jackson Mets, respectively. And yes, SB Nation’s The Daily Norseman calls the Vikings’ drafting of Dozier “catastrophic.” But he still managed nine hits, two RBI and went four-for-four on stolen bases in his 25 games as a Met in his major league debut–and finale–in 1992. That’s more than, say, the super-talented Michael Jordan can boast of his baseball career.

Dozier is of an elite group to have played pro-football and baseball simultaneously—the most well-known of course being Bo Jackson and Dieon Sanders—but according to the Tampa Bay Times, Dozier is the only man to have left the NFL to follow his baseball dreams and actually make it to the majors. Whether Tebow will be able to become the second man, and Met, to pull it off remains to be seen. The Tebow/Dozier comparisons have been pouring in, but it looks like Tebow will have a higher mountain to scale, given his age (29 compared to Dozier’s 23 when returning to the game) and the subsequent time lapse since he’s last played baseball.

These days Dozier lives in Virginia, is the vice president of a software company, and father of four. Of his own career he says, “I got my cup of coffee.” Of Tebow’s baseball quest he says, “I applaud it. Standing O,” and says the haters should back off, that the road to the big leagues is hard enough without someone putting you down.

For my part, I’ll hold off on the Tebow jersey. But I will take a page out of Dozier’s book and wish him the best of luck, too. I do hope the hype will die down soon, though, so the beat writers will stop reporting on what Tebow’s wearing to practice and get back to more important Mets matters. Like the hair dye thing.

Photo Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, the news came out this morning that the Mets have signed football-hero-now-power-hitting-non-prospect Tim Tebow to a minor-league contract, and he’ll be heading to instructs to get started. After his tryout, the book on Tebow became public knowledge: huge batting practice power, good speed … but little-to-no bat-to-ball, unimpressive outfield defense, and a questionable arm. He’s a flyer, a guy who’s unlikely to ever make the big leagues but you can dream on him improving his hit tool and becoming something of a power bat, whether that’s at Port St. Lucie or Flushing depends on how much magic his vaunted work ethic can generate. Teams like to bet on tools, especially power, and Tebow has that in spades.

Perhaps I should have imagined this Tebow-Mets union? As Kate Morrison rightly predicted on Twitter, the Mets were likely to make this move because the Mets own a low-A affiliate that will benefit financially from a Tebow infusion. The Wilpons will directly benefit from any increased attendance that their new, huge, left fielder will bring. (Of course, this is why I expected he’d end up with the Atlanta Braves, a team that controls all its affiliates and is based in the south; Tebow is based in Jacksonville.) And we all know that the team is more than happy to create PR issues if there is some way to benefit from it.

The Mets’ history of making big splashes that seem ill-advised or simply short-sighted–the inevitable cloud of disappointment that hangs over the little brother of New York sports–is what makes the fact that the Mets signed Tebow (and not the Braves or Rockies or any other team) something of an internet punchline. It’s funny that the Mets signed Tebow because they’re the Mets … not necessarily because he’s Tim Tebow.

I was watching a rerun of Friends the other night (I see you, Wilmer Flores!) and there was a scene where Joey Tribbiani is talking to a potential love interest who’s new in town. The conversation went something like this: she says “I’d love to see the Met.” Joey says something like: “No, no. You want to see the Yankees. The Mets suck!” And everyone laughs are poor, one-track-minded Joey. But everyone laughs at the Mets too, because the Mets are just as sad and simple.

This joke has been made, ad nauseum, forever. The Mets used to be the worst team in baseball history, forever the second fiddle to the Yankees, forever making the kinds of moves that cause fans to throw up their hands and outsiders to chuckle. Marv Throneberry’s existence. Jimmy Piersall running the bases backwards. Trading Tom Seaver. Bobby Bonilla’s deferred contract. Todd Hundley in left field. Daniel Murphy in left field. Lucas Duda in left field. Tony Bernazard. Bernie Madoff.

It’s that it’s the Mets.

Tebow was kind of a fiasco in New York the last time he played for a major franchise in the city. Maybe the Mets seem oblivious to that fact? LOL. But in reality, this is a low-risk move. Signing any 29-year-old to a minor-league deal is unlikely to make a major difference in a team’s win-loss record. (Trust me, I specialize in these kinds of transactions over at the BP main site. He’s less likely to affect a team than Erik Kratz or Dan Johnson.) This signing is about public relations, about money, and about the same one-in-a-thousand chance that a non-prospect will work out that every team makes 20 times a season.

It seems wildly unlikely that Tebow’s personality is going to rub players or management the wrong way. We’ve got mountains of anecdotes and piles of data that shows that people like being around him, and I’d be very surprised if his clubhouse presence ruins anything that wasn’t already broken to begin with. There’s no room for taking a moral stand against his signing the same way there might be with adding someone with a domestic violence record like Jose Reyes; Tebow’s negatives almost certainly come down to baseball skills … and maybe a little increased media scrutiny. That’s it. Quite honestly, I’d rather have the guy in the organization than Reyes, who’s contributing a great deal to the big league ballclub … and that’s coming from someone who attended Florida State University when Tebow was in Gainesville.

Let’s be honest, there’s virtually no way that this signing affects the Mets’ major-league roster in any way except one: this deal may make the Wilpons a little bit of money, which they can theoretically funnel back into the big-league product. That’s it. As way too many people have pointed out, there’s nothing wrong with signing a guy with one tool to a low-risk minor-league deal. Teams do that all the time with international guys, with former big-leaguers and prospects, with guys who pop up and do one thing well in indy ball. Teams invite Russell Wilson and Johnny Manziel and Garth Brooks to Spring Training because they can, and because it’s fun, and because why not. So I guess I’m for this signing, in the end. Let’s lean into the punchline a little, and recognize Tebow’s signing for what it is: another act in the three-ring circus, designed to delight a few but that makes no major impact on the serious matters outside the big tent.

Rest assured, this deal will be fun for some people: fans who already like Tim Tebow, families taking their kids to Cyclones games, the entire ESPN and Fox Sports networks, SEO optimizers … and maybe even for a few Mets fans and beat writers. Sure, it keeps the Mets in the spotlight as a franchise that’s good for a little bit of a laugh at times. LOLMets and all that. But it’s not like the team didn’t still earn that punchline anyway.

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports