MLB notebook: Mets' Tebow reassigned to minors

[March 14, 2018]  Tim Tebow is on his way back to the minor leagues.

The New York Mets reassigned the struggling outfielder to their minor league camp on Tuesday after he went 1-for-18 with 11 strikeouts in major league spring training.

Tebow said the decision made sense to him. The 30-year-old will play in minor league games while the Mets analyze which level he should play at in 2018.

The former Heisman Trophy winner split last season between low Class-A and high Class-A and batted .226 with eight homers and 52 RBIs. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson raised eyebrows prior to spring training when he said Tebow "will play in the major leagues."

--Houston Astros All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa was noticeably absent when the team visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday as the 23-year-old opted to use the day to help provide relief supplies to his native Puerto Rico.

"It was not politics or anything," Correa said. "It was just that the day off was perfect to be able to provide some help for the people in Puerto Rico in need."

Puerto Rico is still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in September. Correa spent Monday with his fiancee, Daniella Rodriguez, finalizing a shipment of supplies that he hopes is ready to be sent to the island from South Florida by the end of spring training.

--Gleyber Torres, the top prospect for the New York Yankees, was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and reassigned to minor league camp.

Torres was 4-for-25 in spring training. He said he was told the team wanted him to get more at-bats before returning to the Yankees.

Torres is ranked the fifth-best prospect in baseball by ESPN and arrived at spring training with a chance to win the everyday second base job. However, general manager Brian Cashman also said the Yankees want to be certain Torres is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, which he underwent in June 2017.

 

--Aaron Judge's stellar rookie season has netted him a second-year salary of just over $600,000.

The New York Yankees' slugger will bring home $622,300 on his one-year, split contract with the team for the 2018 season, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. Should Judge be demoted to Triple-A, that salary would drop to $272,250.

Other Yankees players with their salaries locked in for this season include starting pitchers Luis Severino ($604,975) and Jordan Montgomery ($580,450), first baseman Greg Bird ($582,000) and infielder/outfielder Tyler Austin ($558,600).

--Jake Arrieta, who left the Chicago Cubs in free agency after five seasons to sign a multiyear deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, penned a heartfelt letter by hand to thank the Cubs and their fans before leaving.

"Chicago was our home, and will forever be a special place for my entire family," Arrieta wrote. "We raised our children in Wrigleyville, one of the most iconic places in all of sports. Going to work everyday was an honor for many reasons from the storied history of the organization, to the high character individuals I was surrounded by year after year."

Arrieta went 68-31 with 2.73 ERA in 128 starts with the Cubs.

--Field Level Media

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