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I would argue for the more casual fan that A-Rod is way more of a needle mover than the likes of Koufax, DiMaggio and Bo.

@S_A_B_E_R_Q__PSN said:

Cobb was in the game many times.I doubt he did something in the last few years to deserve that

Ted Williams had also been in the game for a while, but was removed after 2020 and only returned last year.

It all likely comes down to not reaching a deal with the individual player or their estate. Maybe some guys sign for one year while others are inked to a multi-year deal and when those contracts are up the negotiations start over. I am sure SDS looks at data to see which Legends are universally used compared to others who don't get much love which affects their decision on who to bring back. Other times it's probably just a case where the person/estate can not come to an agreement regarding the terms.

Let's use a guy like Reggie Jackson as an example. He'd been a regular in The Show for years yet suddenly hasn't been in the game for a few years now. Perhaps he asked for more money to re-up his contract and SDS wouldn't oblige. I am sure this is the likely factor for the majority of these Legends decisions. Like most things in this world, it simply comes down to money.

Going beyond 125 sounds like a box that shouldn't be opened.

@SaveFarris_PSN said:

@NWOStunna_PSN said:

The ONLY hope is a salary cap floor. I think with revenue sharing in place, this is the fairest way to do it.

Can't agree. I have to be ideologically consistent. And I can also point to a recent example to back up my hypothesis: the 2012-2016 Astros. They stripped everything to the bone and were Bottom 3 in payroll 5 years running. And all it did was lead to 2 Titles, 3 Pennants, and 8 straight Playoff appearances.

Would the 2014 Astros have been better off signing middle-tier FAs like Joe Nathan and Rafael Furcal instead of letting rookies Dallas Keuchel and George Springer take all the reps?

That's very fair, but they also hit on most of those top picks which is still such a crapshoot in baseball. Mark Appel was a big miss. Springer/Correa/Bregman on the other hand ended up being the backbone of those championship teams.

Again, not knocking how they rebuilt, but you still need a little luck with these big picks to pan out and they struck gold three times in that span.

@Dolenz_PSN said:

@SakAttack87_PSN said:

They must be really banking on the new parallel system as well since he barely eclipses 100 power facing either side which seems odd for a guy with 700 career HR.

I agree that his power numbers seem too low.

Beltran had 100/103 which would give him a 101 Power score this year
Pujols has 104/101 Which would gives him a 102 Power score

Pujols averaged 37 HRs a year for 22 years for a total of 703
Beltran averaged 27 HRs a year for 20 years for a total of 435

No way they should be that close.

Especially because his other tools (speed/defense) aren't exactly elite so it's really odd they scaled down his bat so much. Babe Ruth was the collection reward two years ago and had 125 across the board with contact/power.

Even Jeter in 23 had 99 pop against lefties.

@skim3797_PSN said:

It seems they’ve decided to spend absolutely nothing on both marketing and development this year after being incredibly stingy with it until now.
Could this be interpreted as a signal that they’re saving up to invest in a next-gen game engine?

I think they simply invested heavy in the WBC portion of the game this year. They confirmed that the rosters for all the teams will be authentic which is absolutely a huge W since that guarantees the inclusion of some former names who haven't been in the game in a while:

• James Paxton
• Alexei Ramirez
• Didi Gregorious
• Hyun-Jin Ryu
• Julio Teheran

That is a lot of non-MLB players to sign which I have to assume ate up the budget for the more traditional Legends pool this year.

Although to that point, it is even more baffling they went to those lengths to make it as legitimate as possible and still decided not to add a separate WBC mode outside of DD.

As usual even if you don't know most of the artists, there are guaranteed to always be 4-5 songs you end up really liking, 4-5 songs you loathe entirely and a lot of meh in the middle.

For 2025, the sneaky highlights for me were "The End" and that song "Cherry Tree." Also, did anyone else notice that "Groceries" was also in 2024? Has that ever happened before with a song from these playlists being in back-to-back titles? Figured the SDS thing to do would be to at least wait a year before bringing it back as a "Returning Legend."

@GoozeFn_PSN said:

@Dolenz_PSN I’m expecting an announced ARod or something like that. No they don’t have to be a switch hitter, but a guy who’s just a good hitter at unimportant positions with no speed and not a switch hitter isn’t good enough. Babe was a 2 way player. Jeter was fast and played a good SS. IMO, this would be the worst collection reward we’ve seen following arguably the best. In a year without much excitement to begin with, that would be rough.

100%

He would be the weakest LS reward in a long while.

2020: Mantle
2021: Chipper
2022: Randy Johnson
2023: Derek Jeter
2024: Babe Ruth
2025: Beltran

Mantle and Beltran would probably rank at the top because they were true five-tool cards across the board in CF who hit from both sides and were new to the game. Chipper wasn't too exciting as a name since he was a player most were very familiar with, but has one of the best swings in the game and was at least a switch-hitter at 3B with SS/OF eligibility. Randy Johnson is the only pitcher entry and was the most dominant starter in the game for a long while. Derek Jeter lacked the big power, but was a huge new addition to The Show and his other stats while also playing a premium position made him very viable. Babe Ruth wasn't new at all although he's always one of the most feared sluggers in the game and at least had the unique two-way feature.

Pujols would make for a fantastic NL reward, but comes up short as the overall collection card in my opinion. I guess he's technically a "new' addition. It's just that many people have used his cards for years now and pretty recently. He will mash for sure although he's just a little too one-dimensional as a power righty bat. I'm not even sure if the extra position versatility will matter much given his limited speed especially as an outfielder.

They must be really banking on the new parallel system as well since he barely eclipses 100 power facing either side which seems odd for a guy with 700 career HR.

@GoozeFn_PSN said:

More legend reveals today.

Kieth Foulk
Matt Carpenter
Zack Britton
Ron Santo

They also showed the Pujols 99 which I’m guessing is the NL reward. Doubt they’d leak the MLB reward like that.

Hate to sound like a broken record, but that's four more names who have all been in the game somewhat recently. Foulke was in 20 and pretty sure the other three were all in 23. Taketh and giveth.

@Dolenz_PSN said in Legends Trailer Breakdown:

I keep seeing people on other places call Pujols a returning legend, which is not technically true.

I think people are also discounting his legendary status because he was in the game so recently

I, like others though, think there is another big announcement to come during the stream.

He is absolutely worthy of being back in the game and technically is a "new" Legend because this is the first game he is in post retirement.

It doesn't feel too special though because he was just in the game three years ago and had literally been in every installment of The Show before then since its inception in 2006. The same goes for Felix.

If they don't pull a major headliner on the launch stream like they did with Beltran last year, this is shaping up to be the biggest "run it back" year of The Show in a while.

It's not an awful list, but most of the biggest names revealed so far were all in the game fairly recently - Pujols/Felix/Pedroia/Andruw Jones. That's not new.

And we haven't even seen the list of removed Legends yet.

Has there ever been confirmation as to why they have seemingly banished this pitch from The Show?

If it's broken why can't they just program it to not be so overpowering? Just seems so incredibly lazy to sweep it under the rug and neglect every player who ever threw that pitch.

@GoozeFn_PSN said in 25 vs 26 live series collection rewards:

@GradektheBard_PSN I’ll give you Ted Williams. It was a bit different in 2017 without stats going to 125 though. Vlad had enough speed at 81. Jeter plays a premium position and had speed. The power was the only thing lacking and it was still good enough. It’s obviously not an end all be all criteria, but either one of those guys would be disappointing for the overall reward especially following Beltran.

I think that's why 20 might still be the best collection series overall.

At launch, you had a premiere slugger with Sheffield who could play 3B/OF, a speed/power player with eligibility at C/2B in Biggio and finally Mantle who was the most meta five-tool card available in the game.

All three were brand-new to The Show as well which is always a bonus.

@GoozeFn_PSN said in Storylines Season 4 Legends:

@bostondirtdog21_PSN Exactly! These should be some of the best cards at launch and we need a TA or FA program to use them for. Even a mini season.

They treat the NLB content so well through Storylines it's almost shocking how badly they disregard it within DD.

Any grinding you do with these cards in that mode offers ZERO progress towards TA, programs, etc. There is literally no incentive to use these players which falls directly on the shoulders of SDS.

I'm not a programmer, but it seems like an easy enough solution would be to add a voucher for PXP with NLB cards that can be exchanged for whatever you are working towards within DD.

@GoozeFn_PSN said in Legend Wishlist:

@globetrotter360_PSN The legends trailer was released just 3 days before early access last year. It seems silly that they wait so long to build up excitement for the game. They save all the exciting stuff for the last week. I guess that makes sense when they don’t have any significant improvements in several years.

I think it's deliberate to cash in on the FOMO. Drop a few big Legends right before launch and sway some people who are on the fence.

@Jeff7407_PSN said in Bring back incognito:

@w1ck3dx24_PSN said in Bring back incognito:

Not really a fan.. But the worst one was by far, out of position players

The snapshot series would like a word.

Snapshot was the worst card series ever. I put away 23 for good when that dropped and I've played every other release from 2020-25 from start to finish.

I know OOP was divisive, but at least it actually offered something a bit different for a few weeks. Snapshot was the lamest card art ever and felt like the laziest effort ever. Senior prom Kershaw and horseback Nolan Ryan. 🫩

@Teak2112_MLBTS said in Legend Wishlist:

@TheBigPapa55_PSN said in Legend Wishlist:

Wright was on pace for 500 homers and 3000 hits before his back gave out.

500 HR is a stretch but was easily on pace for a HoF career.

IF Pedroia is a HoFer it would be absurd if Wright isnt also one. But having good defensive stats is perhaps the most important thing for a borderline hall of fame case these days, and Pedroia had that while Wright was just fairly average even if he was considerably better offensively (51 oWAR vs 41 oWAR in only 100 more PA)

Still, no question Pedroia was a great player

If they are going to start qualifying the "what could've beens" for the HOF, then both Pedroia and Wright need to get in line behind Don Mattingly.

@globetrotter360_PSN said in 25 vs 26 live series collection rewards:

I think they’ll release a big legend in the legends trailer. If they’re tracking who people seem to want the most, and able to get it done, I could see it being Joe DiMaggio or Ty Cobb. Either would be exciting for sure.

Both big names for sure, but I can still see people being lukewarm about both if either are the headliner for the 2026. DiMaggio would automatically upset the "another Yankee?!?" crowd and with Ty Cobb he was in the game about five years ago so moreso a returning Legend like Pujols and Felix over an actual NEW player.

I do agree the marquee reveal will happen when the Legends trailer drops. However, there are only a handful of fresh names that would garner universal praise from the fanbase which would be of that A-Rod or Bonds caliber. Ichiro could be a really fun addition although even with him the very lower power is something that will likely turn off many from using him over some switch-hitting goon who is barely league average. That's unfortunately just how The Show works.

@rageincage007_XBL said in Legend Wishlist:

I still think they should do "local legends" players. They could get rights cheaper and fans of those teams would love it. Guys that weren't HOF nationally but fans love them. I was thinking Mickey Lolich, Gates Brown, Willie Horton, Bobby Higginson, Bill Freehan, guys like that for the Tigers. I'm sure other people could name some from their teams.

I really wish they could flesh out the mid-level Legends list more as well.

Yeah, I'd love Joe DiMaggio, but I'd probably rather prefer a combo of Scott Brosius/Jeff Nelson/Jim Leyritz over him just because more obscure Legends are more important to me than one headliner at this point in the franchise granted they don't keep removing big names.

@Teak2112_MLBTS said in An offline gamer gives his input way too late:

The current model of TA has not been popular, but that was more do to do with the boring missions and the vouchers being pretty anticlimactic. Color Storm and Neon drops were ok, but the rest of the year TA felt like it didn't exist

I'm all for another shot at team specific, but there needs to be a lot more meat this time around

I liked that TA went back to being team specific and not grouped into divisions, but the stats were pretty boring and there was literally nothing to offer after Finest unless you really wanted that #1 Fan icon.