MLB The Show is one of the top video game franchises out there, but its off-season has been lacking a few distinct narrative elements.
The 2022 – 2023 MLB off-season has been one of the most eventful in recent memory. With countless star players changing teams and the background drama that took place, MLB The Show 23 needs to make sure to capitalize on one of the most important parts of the league’s lifecycle. 2023’s edition has the chance to introduce new dynamics to Franchise mode in order to improve the game going forward.
Baseball as a whole has been declining in popularity for quite some time, but The Show has been able to remain one of the best sports video games despite this because of its adaptability. Year after year, San Diego Studio has put out a product that has improved on the previous year’s version, with new features, modes, and small UI improvements. MLB The Show hasn’t quite been able to figure out how to do the same with Franchise mode’s off-season, but doing so will be key to reviving the game mode where it originally made its name.
Introduce Storylines To MLB’s Off-Season
This off-season alone, there have been record-setting contracts given to Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, Jacob deGrom, and Justin Verlander, just to name a few. Star players such as Sean Murphy, Teoscar Hernandez, and Daulton Varsho have also been traded to new teams. Carlos Correa originally agreed to the fourth biggest contract in MLB history with the San Francisco Giants before an underlying medical issue caused the Giants to back out mere hours before his introductory press conference. Then, seemingly overnight, the New York Mets came to terms with Correa on a smaller 12-year, $315 million deal. However, that contract is also now in question after the Mets found their own medical concerns with Correa.
While none of those on their own would warrant a change to MLB The Show‘s franchise mode on their own, when put together, it shows just how little the game’s version of an off-season features. Many of these moves would never happen in a simulation setting because of how purely illogical they are. A realistic version of the Boston Red Sox would never let their star shortstop leave, but in real life, the ownership group is pinching pennies to reportedly save to buy an NBA team in the future, allowing the Padres to sign Bogaerts instead. The Oakland A’s shouldn’t trade one of their only good players in Sean Murphy but did because they are trying to put together the worst team they can to save on payroll and tank to get the top pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. The storylines themselves don’t have to be this true-to-life, but having something external that drives an organization’s or player’s decision-making would bring a more interesting experience.
Similar concepts have been tried, and abandoned, by other series in similar places in the past. NBA 2K18 introduced a Story mode to MyGM that was met with mixed reviews. While some fans praised its ingenuity for bringing a narrative element to a general Franchise mode, others found it laborious to complete and found themselves simulating past it to get to their second season at the helm of an NBA team. However, 2K smartly made the narrative portion optional, allowing players to still have the old experience they knew and loved if they preferred it. Introducing an optional story to MLB The Show‘s Franchise mode could give players the perfect mix they’ve been looking for.
It should be noted that there are roster rules, player contracts, and logistics that make it difficult for a video game simulation to truly represent what could happen in an MLB off-season. Even more than in other sports leagues. Between their big league club and their affiliated minor league teams, each MLB organization has around 300 players under contract. Factor in undrafted players and unsigned free agents, and there are around 10,000 total players that have to be accounted for.
MLB The Show doesn’t have to create stories for every single player; fans would find that tedious. However, there are still easy ways to bring storytelling elements to the game’s franchise mode. Not only would it greatly improve gameplay, but it would also allow San Diego Studio to continue to show it listens to its fans.
MLB The Show 22 is available on PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.