Royals Rumors: KC Will Not Make Offer To Tim Tebow

The Royals attended former Heisman trophy winner, and NFL quarterback, Tim Tebow’s baseball workout on Tuesday. Representatives from 28 MLB organizations attended. Early word indicated that the KC Royals will not offer the former football star a contract.

Bob Fescoe of 610 AM radio in Kansas City tweeted this early report:

Actually making the major-leagues is a long-shot for the 29-year-old Tebow. Pretty much anyone will struggle to play at the highest level after giving up a sport 11 years ago. But, Tebow possesses obvious athletic ability.

According to Jerry Crasnick’s story on ESPN.com, one scout indicated that Tebow showed a below average 40 grade arm on the industry-standard 20-80 scale, and caught everything hit toward him in outfield. However, he did show rough footwork at times.

Along with fielding drills, Tebow ran the 60 yard dash (6.8 seconds) and then took 58 pitches against former major league pitchers David Aarmsda and other pitchers with professional resumes.

Tebow Needs Work At The Plate

At the plate, Tebow displayed power but iffy skills at the plate during the “live” pitching phase of his workout according to a scout who talked to USA Today’s Josh Peters:

"“I thought he was OK. Better than I expected, to be honest,” said one major league scout who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about his assessment. “For not having played as long as he had, I thought he did OK.“That’s a big dude, for as fast as he can run. The power was impressive, but I wish he could have translated it maybe a little better (against live pitching).”"

Aarmsda, who believes that Tebow can play in AA as early as 2017, told the Los Angeles Times after the workout:

"“Today was the worst I’ve seen him. It looked like he was trying really hard, overswinging a bit. It’s what you do when you’ve got 200 people and cameras everywhere and you’re the only guy they’re watching.”"

Not About The Publicity

However, Tebow insisted to ESPN.com’s Crasnick that his attempt to play professional baseball isn’t about self-promotion:

"“This isn’t about publicity. It’s definitely not about money. I took a pay cut to do this. For me, you pursue what you love regardless of what else happens. If you fail or fall flat on your face, and that’s the worst thing that can happen, it’s OK. When did pursuing what you love become such a bad thing? I’ll make all the sacrifices to be the best I can,” Tebow said."

Next: 5 Reasons The KC Royals Will Make The 2016 Playoffs

I’m guessing Kansas City Royals shouldn’t be in any rush to run out and buy custom team jersey’s with Tebow’s name on the back. But, who knows what could happen? Tebow is widely-reputed to be a character guy with leadership qualities. If he proves himself in independent league ball, he could find his way to the Royals organization.