It has been a weird time for Major League Baseball and its minor league affiliates.
It appears increasingly unlikely that we will have a season in 2020 with both the owners and players union entrenched in a battle of financial Russian Roulette, leaving the minor leagues wondering if a season will even be had.
Thousands of players have been released as of last Thursday. Both the Coronavirus Pandemic and Commissioner Rob Manfred's plan to slash about a quarter of baseball's minor league affiliates are taking direct impact on baseball's future, leaving many wondering what's next for a sport that appears on the brink.
One of those teams that cut a slew of Minor League players is the New York Mets, who reportedly cut as many as 39 players last week. One of those players was Andrew Church, a former second round pick, who bashed the Mets as a dysfunctional organization, and took shots at former NFL quarterback-turned baseball player Tim Tebow.
"The Mets made a mockery of our team by putting a celebrity on it to sell more tickets. I saw players lose their job because of it. We weren't playing to win. We were playing to make everyone else money. Not the players. We never saw a cut...," Church is quoted as saying by multiple sources.
Thank you Mr. Church for stating what many of us kinda, already knew. The Tim Tebow experiment has been a colossal gimmick by the Mets, one that served no purpose other than to garner publicity. Tebow has struggled, hitting .223 over three seasons of minor league baseball. And it's ironic that of the 39 cuts made by the Mets on Thursday, Tebow wasn't among them.
While Church didn't exactly have a stellar pitching career in the minors, a 4.58 ERA in 454 innings pitched, his feelings about Tebow and the Mets, gives us a slight insight as to what players might have been thinking behind closed doors. This is not a good look for an organization steeped with one black eye after another.
Thousands of players have been released as of last Thursday. Both the Coronavirus Pandemic and Commissioner Rob Manfred's plan to slash about a quarter of baseball's minor league affiliates are taking direct impact on baseball's future, leaving many wondering what's next for a sport that appears on the brink.
One of those teams that cut a slew of Minor League players is the New York Mets, who reportedly cut as many as 39 players last week. One of those players was Andrew Church, a former second round pick, who bashed the Mets as a dysfunctional organization, and took shots at former NFL quarterback-turned baseball player Tim Tebow.
"The Mets made a mockery of our team by putting a celebrity on it to sell more tickets. I saw players lose their job because of it. We weren't playing to win. We were playing to make everyone else money. Not the players. We never saw a cut...," Church is quoted as saying by multiple sources.
While Church didn't exactly have a stellar pitching career in the minors, a 4.58 ERA in 454 innings pitched, his feelings about Tebow and the Mets, gives us a slight insight as to what players might have been thinking behind closed doors. This is not a good look for an organization steeped with one black eye after another.
Comments