Each year, MLB The Show adds a new batch of players to its games. Most of these players are baseball legends who haven’t been in the game for quite a while. With MLB The Show 25 soon to be released, the rumor mill regarding which baseball icons are next to be included has already begun.
So while we all patiently wait for a concrete release date and put together our wishlists, we’ve scoured the internet looking for players who have yet to be included in MLB The Show titles post-retirement, or were in previous titles but left off the roster in MLB The Show 24.
Here are the 10 players we want to see added to MLB The Show 25.
10 Players We Want to See Added to MLB The Show 25
Albert Pujols
Over the course of his 22-year career, Albert Pujols proved to be one of the most productive hitters in MLB hitters. Currently, the man known as “The Machine” is ranks second all-time in both RBIs and total bases, and is among only four players to eclipse 700 home runs in their career.
A surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer, it would be great to have Pujols in MLB The Show 25. However, having only been retired since the conclusion on the 2022 season, that might be wishful thinking.
Alex Rodriguez
Love him or hate him, Alex Rodriguez is statistically one of the most dominant all-around players in baseball history. Boasting a career batting average of .295, a .380 OBP, .550 SLG, 117.6 WAR, 696 home runs, and over 2,000 career RBIs, A-Rod is undeniably one of, if not the, best players of his generation.
In past years, Rodriguez’s checkered history with performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) might’ve had an adverse effect on him being included in any kind of officially licensed MLB product post-retirement. However, with the inclusions of other controversial sluggers such as Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire in recent titles, maybe it’s time to embrace A-Rod and make him playable in MLB The Show 25.
Keith Hernandez
When it comes to first baseman, Keith Hernandez is among the elite. A brilliant defensive player and contact hitter for his entire career, Hernandez won two World Series, 11 consecutive Gold Gloves, and a National League MVP award over the course of his career. Because of his brilliance over the course of career and being among the greatest players to don a Mets uniform, Hernandez should be in MLB The Show 25.
For the record, Hernandez was included in past MLB The Show titles before being oddly omitted from MLB The Show 24’s roster. Obviously, not everyone can be included every year. But considering how much of a splash the New York Mets have made this offseason with the record-breaking signing of Juan Soto, some Mets legends are gonna be needed.
Jimmie Foxx
The Athletics are due to have a wild season in 2025, with the team being slated to play their home games at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the next three seasons as they complete their new Las Vegas-based stadium. In turn, I feel it’s only right that MLB The Show 25 pay homage to the A’s multiple eras in multiple cities over the last century.
Jimmie Foxx’s Hall of Fame career was born and bred with the Athletics when the team was still in Philadelphia. Boasting impressive splits of .325/.428/.609 with a career OPS of 1.038, Foxx is a legend of the game and helped guide the A’s to World Series titles in 1929 and 1930. Having been removed from circulation in MLB The Show 24, the time is now to bring “Double X” back into the fold.
Reggie Jackson
Speaking of A’s legends, Reggie Jackson was removed from MLB The Show 24 after being included in MLB The Show 23. As both a Yankees fan and baseball connoisseur, I find this to be unacceptable.
Reggie’s career exploits are well documented, and he is noted as being one of the best clutch hitters in baseball history, hence his “Mr. October” nickname. Reggie played a huge part in the A’s successes in early 70’s where they won three World Series championships. Furthermore, Jackson and cohorts such as Rollie Ringers and Catfish Hunter helped give the club legitimacy after the team’s move from Kansas City to Oakland.
Bring Reggie back, please!
Joe Carter
There are only two players in baseball history who have ended the World Series with a walk-off home run. The first was Bill Mazeroski, whose Game 7 walk-off homer for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Yankees in 1960 remains one of the most dramatic moments in American sports history. The second is Joe Carter.
Carter’s heroics for the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies will forever live on in baseball as a legendary moment. And even if his career didn’t result in a Hall of Fame nod, Carter should be an automatic inclusion in any MLB The Show game.
Manny Ramirez
Not only was Manny Ramirez a ridiculously great hitter during his time, but he also played a massive part in one of baseball’s most improbable moments. In 2004, the Boston Rodriguez — anchored by Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Curt Schilling — pulled off the greatest comeback in American sports, overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS against the rival New York Yankees en route to winning the World Series, Boston’s first baseball championship since 1918.
Like Alex Rodriguez, Ramirez had a tumultuous history with PEDs, being suspended twice by the league for using banned substances twice over the course of his 18-year MLB career. But as I’ve previously mentioned, MLB The Show currently has guys like Sosa, McGwire, and Ortiz on the bill, is it really fair for Manny to be left out? If the world is in any way just, Manny Ramirez will be in MLB The Show 25.
Darryl Strawberry
Darryl Strawberry never quite lived up to the expectations that were bestowed upon him. Much of that failed potential can be blamed on Strawberry’s well-documented struggles with substance abuse. That said, the “Straw Man” had a respectable 16-year career in the majors and won three World Series championships — one with the New York Mets in 1986, and two others in 1996 and 1999 with the New York Yankees.
Despite his off-field struggles, there aren’t many players as respected and beloved as Strawberry. And even if his inclusion mostly comes down to his status as a fan favorite rather than a legendary ballplayer, there is more than enough space for him in MLB The Show 25.
Joe DiMaggio
Known affectionately as both “the Yankee Clipper” and “Joltin’ Joe”, there are few players as accomplished and celebrated in the history of baseball as Joe DiMaggio. Anchoring a New York Yankees dynasty that resulted in a staggering 9 World Series titles between 1936 and 1951, DiMaggio was about as good of a hitter as there’s ever been in Major League Baseball.
To this day, DiMaggio holds the record for the most consecutive games with a hit (56), a record which is unlikely to ever be broken. The closest player to even come close in the Live Ball era is Pete Rose, who hit in 44 straight games in 1978.
Decorated in championships and record-breaking accolades, DiMaggio belongs in MLB The Show 25 where his exploits will certainly shock younger fans of the game.
Barry Bonds
C’mon, we all knew who was going to be No. 1 on this list. Barry Bonds is undeniably one of the greatest players to ever pick up a bat and glove. Here are just some of his splits:
- .298 career batting
- .444 career OBP
- .607 career SLG
- 1.051 career OPS
- 762 career home runs (MLB record)
- 73 home runs in a single season (MLB record)
- 1,996 career RBIs
- 2,935 career hits
- 14-time career All-Star appearances
- 7 National League MVPs
- Single-season records in on-base percentage, base on balls, and slugging percentage
- Career-leading 2,558 base on balls
These numbers are unreal. Unfortunately, like others on this list, Bonds was a casualty of the fallout from baseball’s “Steroid Era.” His controversial history with PEDs and his infamously strained relationship with sports media turned Bonds into baseball’s No. 1 pariah.
But who knows? Maybe Bonds’ time spent away from baseball has healed enough wounds for a discussion to be had. One thing’s for certain — if MLB The Show 25 is to attract both new and lapsed players of the franchise, then including Bonds should be the top priority.
These are 10 players we want to see in MLB The Show 25. Let us know who you’d like to see included in the comments!
Published: Jan 16, 2025 12:28 pm