AL exec calls Mets signing Tebow 'a joke'

Tim Tebow has experienced his fair share of detractors and non-believers in the early stages of his baseball career.

The former NFL quarterback agreed to a minor-league deal with the New York Mets on Thursday, leaving one AL executive, who wished to remain anonymous, scratching his head at the decision by the Mets and general manager Sandy Alderson.

"It's a joke to me," the executive told Randy Miller of the NJ Advance Media. "I don't (know) what the Mets' intentions are. He's 29 and he hasn't played baseball in 11 years.

"I don't want Tebow taking the place of a kid who has been playing baseball his whole life, and he's going to be taking someone's place."

Related: 3 guesses at what happens next with Tebow

Tebow hasn't played organized baseball since high school in 2005, though Alderson said the Mets believe he can be a "baseball player," adding their decision to sign the former Heisman Trophy winner was "strictly driven by baseball."

Given Tebow's age and the fact that he's been away from the game so long, the executive doesn't believe he'll have a shot at reaching the major leagues.

"I don't think so," he said. "He's 29. He's got to get to Double-A next year, Triple-A the year after. To think that he's going to have that kind of success ... it's pretty far-fetched. I've got other things to worry about."

He added: "I don't think it'll last a year, but we'll see."