Tim Tebow is taking the place of Zach Borenstein. Who?

Actually, even that's not true. In today's Yankee - Met exhibition game both Tim Tebow AND Zach Borenstein were in the starting lineup. Tebow was DH and Borenstein in left where he showed poor judgement in the first inning, letting two Yankee base runners advance.

Borenstein has 2,649 regular season plate appearances, ALL in the minors, including 1,085 at AAA. OPS .857, .802 at AAA. Borenstein was born July 23, 1990. He's 27 years old and not a kid. It's not likely that Borenstein will play much, if at all, in the major league. It's VERY unlikely that Borenstein will ever become an impact major league player.

Before today's game Tebow had been one for eleven this spring. Tebow has 486 regular season PA, none above A ball. OPS .641. Tebow was born August 14, 1987, so Tebow is 30 years old, three years older than Borenstein. Tebow won the Heisman trophy in 2007 as the best college football player. Tebow was a sophomore quarterback at the University of Florida. In 2010-2012 Tebow played in the NFL: 361 pass attempts, QB rating 75.3. Eventually, Tebow decided to try professional baseball and signed with the Mets.

Tebow is less likely to become an impact major league player than Zach Borenstein. But is Tebow really having any meaningful impact on minor league prospects by taking eleven PA up to today?

We all know that spring training is way too long. It's long because it generates money, not to evaluate prospects. More than ever, teams know what they have.

So why did Yankee announcer Micheal Kay feel compelled to drone on about Tebow, asking what the Mets could possibly have in mind by playing Tebow. Entertainment comes to mind. I was interested in seeing Tebow, much as I was interested in watching Seattle Seahawk starting quarterback Russell Wilson finally get a PA last week pinch hitting in a Yankee exhibition game. Wilson SO. Wilson has won a Super Bowl. He also has played minor league baseball, almost as much as Tebow.

Wilson was born November 29, 1988. He's 29 years old and in 2010-2011 had .710 OPS in 379 PA, none above A ball. There was some obligatory blowback about Wilson's lone Yankee PA but he's not as controversial as Tebow.

What's wrong with some people? It's freakin' spring training. The games don't count. Evaluations are not impacted by these few PA by NFL players. Lighten up. Get as upset about teams tanking in the regular season and dumping players in July.