We finally have a release date for MLB The Show 24 as well as full details on the Negro Leagues Edition. With all pre-orders open and a firm date, it’s time to start getting hyped for new features and new MLB The Show 24 legends.
Despite the numerous legends added every single year, there’s still a huge list of legends who could be added. While there’s plenty who may not appear in the game due to off-field issues, there’s even more who are worthy additions, so it’s a matter of who’s in and who’s out.
Let’s have some fun and make some predictions.
Predictions For New Legends Coming To MLB The Show 24
Trailer Teaser?
When SDS debuted the reveal trailer highlighting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as the cover athlete, there was a supercut of on-field footage featuring players of Spanish heritage. Many of the players in the brief clip are current players or legends already in the game. A notable few, however, would be new additions to MLB The Show 24.
The players in question are Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, Rafael Palmeiro, and recent Hall of Fame inductee Adrian Beltre.
Oliva would bring a fun mix of high-contact with solid pop and has a Gold Glove to his name. Palmeiro put up Hall of Fame worthy statistics, but was marred by alleged performance enhancing drug use. Beltre is one of the best third baseman of all time and one of the more requested legends since his retirement.
While these three appearing in the reveal video might not be official confirmation of their inclusion, it’s a pretty safe bet that we’ll see them in MLB The Show 24.
Five-Year Rule
For a player to be eligible for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, they must be officially retired for a minimum of five years. While there’s no steadfast rule that this applies to appearing as a legend in MLB The Show, the four-to-five range has generally been the earliest that recent retirees appear. There have been some exceptions over the last couple years, but looking at this group can point us in the right direction.
Some notable players who have retired in the last five years include:
- OF Adam Jones (Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks)
- OF Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins)
- C Brian McCann (Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Houston Astros)
- IF/OF Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs)
- C Russell Martin (Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays)
- SP Francisco Liriano (Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers)
- 2B Dustin Pedroia (Boston Red Sox)
- SP C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees)
- SS Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees)
- SP Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners)
- SP Cole Hamels (Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves)
- 1B Chris Davis (Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles)
The big names who stand out on this list are Dustin Pedroia, Ichiro, C.C. Sabathia, Troy Tulowitzki, and Felix Hernandez. Pedroia is a former cover athlete while Ichiro is one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the sport and a surefire Hall of Famer. Sabathia is a member of the storied 3,000 strikeout club and should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer himself. Tulowitzki and Hernandez were two of the very best players of their generation and two highly requested legends.
Recent Hall Of Fame Inductees
While Adrian Beltre is an inductee for 2024, we can look at the last couple years of inductions for some other potential names.
3B Scott Rolen finally got his call to Cooperstown in 2023. Rolen is one of the best defensive 3B of all time that had plenty of power and contact skills to boot.
Pitchers Gil Hodges and Jim Kaat were both inducted in 2022, which just happens to be the same class that Tony Oliva was inducted.
Negro League Stars
It’s been known since last year that we’d be getting another season of Storylines with MLB The Show 24. Season 1 in MLB The Show 23 featured seven Negro League legends that were new to the franchise along with Jackie Robinson. With the promise of Season 2, there’s some obvious big names that could be featured this year:
- CF/1B Oscar Charleston
- C Josh Gibson
- SS Pop Floyd
- OF Turkey Stearnes
- OF Cool Papa Bell
Retro Finest
Next, let’s look at players that were dominant in their own right who range from “best of their era” all the way to “potential Hall of Famer.”
- SP Johan Santana (Minnesota Twins, New York Mets)
- OF Juan Gonzalez (Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals)
- Corner IF/LF Dick Allen (Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics)
- RP Francisco Rodriguez (Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers)
- RP Jonathan Papelbon (Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals)
- OF Moises Alou (Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets)
Bottom Line
Since every new game has a fresh crop of legends, it’s always hard to nail down exactly who might be added in a given year. MLB The Show 24 will certainly feature some new Negro Leagues legends and it looks like we might get new Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre. We typically get a mix of recent retirees along with one or two huge historical names, which is mostly what this list was built to predict. If we got this entire list, or even most of the names featured, I’d consider that one of the best new legend rosters ever.
Keep in mind this is a list of predictions, not necessarily the legends we’d like to see added. That’s a whole different list entirely.
What legends do you think will appear in MLB The Show 24? Let us know in the comments!
