Tebow to play for Philippines at WBC qualifiers

Tim Tebow is expanding his baseball horizons.

The New York Mets outfielder will play for Team Philippines at the World Baseball Classic qualifiers, according to an announcement from WBC Baseball.

The 32-year-old Tebow is eligible to play for the Philippines because he was born in Makati in 1987 when his parents lived in the country while serving as Baptist missionaries.

"You don't get a lot of chances to represent people or places that mean something to you," Tebow said, according to Newsday's Tim Healey. "It's even more than baseball for me."

WBC qualifiers are scheduled to take place from March 13-25 in Tucson, Arizona.

Tebow, a former NFL quarterback and NCAA Heisman Trophy winner, has played baseball in the Mets organization since 2016 and is currently attending spring training with the club. He hit the first spring training home run of his career on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers.

Tebow has never played professional regular-season baseball above Triple-A. He authored a .163/.240/.255 slash line with four home runs and 19 RBIs for Syracuse last season.