Tim Tebow passionate about attempt to get into pro baseball after USC workout

LOS ANGELES >> The latest road marker in Tim Tebow’s curious journey toward a Major League Baseball career came before more than 100 scouts and media members at USC’s Dedeaux Field on Tuesday afternoon.

The reviews were uneven, but it wasn’t meant to be a make-or-break moment than it was a look-and-see opportunity.

• See VIDEO of Tim Tebow’s workout

• PHOTOS: Gallery from Tebow’s workout

The 29-year-old former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy wier may have shown a less-than-strong left arm has he threw to different bases from spots in the outfield. He slipped once cutting a ball off in the right-field gap while trying to plant and throw.

During a live hitting session against two former MLB pitchers, Tebow struggled with getting wood on breaking balls and swung and missed a few times in a row, or fouling pitches off toward the left-field bullpen.

But during the batting practice warmup, Tebow launched a ball into the tall trees beyond the right-field wall, a drive estimated at more than 400 feet. With his 6-foot-3 and 255-pound frame, he’s not someone a second baseman might want to see breaking up a double play.

When the hour-and-a-half so-called “showcase” was finished, and following talks with four or five MLB teams that wanted to further the discussion (those teams were not identified), Tebow pronounced it all worthwhile.

“I just want to pursue what I believe in, what I’m passionate about,” he said. “And if some say, ‘What if you fail?’ Or ‘What if you don’t make it?’ Guess what? I don’t have to live with regret. I’ve done everything I could. I pushed it. I would rather be someone who could live in peace than being scared if I didn’t make it.”

Twenty-eight teams were said to have had representatives at this event, totaling more than 45 scouts. That was also about the number of media members who were invited as well, making everyone something a talent evaluator on the spot.

In a surreal but grinding three-part, one-man play, Tebow was asked to run just one 60-yard dash (some timed it in the 6.7 second range, some had it faster), take balls hit to him in right and center field and throw to different bases, then hit pitches thrown to him by two right-handers with recent MLB experience, David Aardsma and Chad Smith. In between, he made costume changes.

“There was 100 percent nerves, no question about it,” Tebow said. “At a combine or pro day, your body of work for four years (is there), so it’s not just that one day. Here, you might have seen me when I was 17 but you haven’t seen me since. So you better show something.”

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Twelve years ago, Tebow was a junior at Nease High in Ponte Vedra, Fla., hitting .494 with four homers and 30 RBI as a first-team All-State selection. He skipped his senior year to start at the University of Florida’s football program.

Brodie Van Wagenen, who represents Tebow for L.A.-based CAA Sports and has had Ryan Braun, Roy Halladay and Dan Haren as clients, said it was important to Tebow to have “an authentic evaluation of his talents” and for teams interested to “sign him as an athlete and not a celebrity. There was a lot of skeptics and critics. I think after this, teams could see there’s plenty of speed and talent to work with.”

Because Tebow falls under the Rule 4 first-year player category – not a foreign player who, like Yasiel Puig, could be signed to a multi-million deal – teams may have a range of about $100,000 to $1 million to sign someone like Tebow, said Van Wagenen. This proves, he said, that Tebow is not doing this for the money, because he would also have to leave a somewhat lucrative deal with ESPN’s SEC Network as a studio analyst to pursue this further.

Van Wagenen said a best-case scenario going forward would be for a team to take him and put him in the upcoming Arizona Fall League and see how he comes out of it. A scenario of Tebow going into someone’s 2017 spring training camp seems to be more the expectation than trying to spend a year or two in the minor leagues figuring things out.

Scouts who were quoted anonymously by various media sources gave Tebow an average rating as far as arm strength. There were holes in his swing. He had sometimes an long transfer from glove to throwing. His speed was ruled above average by most, considering his size. He’s been pegged as a Double-A quality player at the moment by others.

Perhaps enough of the 30 MLB teams had formed opinions about Tebow’s baseball ability based on tape already seen from his workouts since the end of May with Chad Moeller, the one-time Dodgers catcher out of Upland and USC, who has his own baseball camp in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Moeller called Tebow’s attempt “an intriguing one … you don’t know what to expect. What is his foundation when it comes to baseball?

“For me (today) he did great. He threw well, ran well. He’s a special athlete. As hitters do we think we can always do better? Sure. But I liked what I saw. The live at bats were from guys trying to get him and still looking for a job (in the MLB). He didn’t know what was coming. He got fooled on pitches but also hit some balls hard.”

Tebow said that since he was 4 or 5 years old, there’s been two things he’s loved most about sports. One was playing quarterback – he did that four years at the University of Florida, followed by three years with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, plus training camps with New England and Philadelphia. The other, he admitted, was hit a baseball.

He’s had ample opportunity to do the first. He says he’s done with the NFL.

Now comes this chance.

“This (baseball) is something I love, but it’s not my identity or my foundation. I have that in so many other things – faith, family and relationships. When you have that mindset it lets you be free to do something a lot think you can’t do. Go after what you believe rather than the fear of failure or what other people say about you. You’re free to pursue life, and what you’re passion about, not what other people think you should do.”

He paused and almost apologized to the reporters gathered around him.

“You can see I don’t really get fired up about all this,” he said with a sheepish grin.