SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tim Tebow is in the Arizona Fall League. He might be better suited to playing in an Arizona high school league. His presence here is a farce, and he looks like an imposter pretending to have talent he does not possess.

Tebow the baseball player is not a baseball player; he's a washed-up quarterback who has size and nothing else. His swing is long, and he wields the bat like someone who hasn't played the sport in more than a decade, which he hasn't. He can't catch up to 90 mph, which is well below the major league average for a fastball, and was cutting through fastballs in the zone on Wednesday night. He rolled over twice on fastballs, which is something you generally see professional hitters do only on off-speed stuff, and he showed below-average running speed. In left field, his routes look like those of a wide receiver, although he managed to eventually make his way around to a fly ball in left.

In short, there's absolutely no baseball justification for Tebow to be here.

The Mets' decision to sign Tebow for $100,000 as, essentially, an undrafted 29-year-old free agent, where any other player would be lucky to get $1,000 and a plane ticket, was a craven, mercenary move befitting an independent-league team desperate for the added revenue from ticket sales, not something a major league team with postseason aspirations should be doing. The Mets had to use one of their AFL roster slots to send Tebow here, and he's playing 3-4 days a week -- because this is a part-time job for him -- in place of, well, players who can actually play. This is all in service of adding jersey sales, but if MLB and the Mets were being honest about this, the front of Tebow's jersey would say "Avarice" in Comic Sans.

There are organizational players -- players who fill out minor league rosters but have little to no chance to play in the majors -- in the AFL every year, but they're at least credible in the role. Tebow is the only hitter I've seen here this year or in any recent year who couldn't even square up a below-average fastball.

Chasing celebrities is no way to run a player-development department, an organization or a league. Everyone involved in the decision should be embarrassed when they're done counting their money.