MLB The Show 25 Digital Deluxe Edition Pre-Order Bonuses
If you pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition of MLB The Show 25, you'll be given extra stubs and interesting packs to help you get ahead of the game.
We got our first taste of changes within Road To The Show on Tuesday for MLB The Show 25, but tucked in the middle of SDS's blog post that accompanied the mode's deep dive video was information about the different pre-order bonuses users will get when they order the Digital Deluxe edition of the game.
Included in this section of the blog post were pictures of the two different featured choice packs: One 20th Anniversary choice pack and one diamond legend choice pack. The images showcasing each pack also contain one mystery player that will likely not be revealed until the week of early access.
20TH ANNIVERSARY CHOICE PACK
The first of the two packs shown was the 20th Anniversary choice pack. This pack was introduced in name only when pre-ordering went live two weeks ago on February 4, and with SDS celebrating the 20th installment of the MLB The Show franchise this year, the idea that they would have a pack surrounding that concept was not that far-fetched. My initial thought when seeing this pack's name was that it would consist entirely of former cover athletes a la the Cover Athletes pre-order pack we got back in MLB The Show 22.
Instead, this pack appears to be highlighting players that were dominant around the time of MLB The Show's renaming in 2006. In that particular year, Vladimir Guerrero was an established star in the big leagues, David Wright had his second season in which he received MVP votes, Joe Mauer won his first batting title with a .347 average and Clayton Kershaw was still two years away from making his MLB debut before becoming a major force in his own right. With Kershaw's inclusion as someone who was not specifically involved in the 2006 season, that makes me think that the mystery player will be a new legend related more to the 2010s to spread the timeline out a little bit more. (Adam Jones, perhaps?)
DIAMOND LEGEND CHOICE PACK
The second pack shown is a diamond choice pack that contains all legends. While this collection of players does not offer as much information to try and make a great guess on who the mystery player will be, I will stick to the late 1990s or early 2000s theme and throw Nomar Garciaparra. His name has been churning around the new legend rumor mill this year, and this seems like as good a spot to put him as any.
One thing to note with this pack is the introduction of two new card series as depicted by Billy Wagner's "Contributor" series card, and Nolan Ryan's "Last Ride" series card. One could argue that we don't necessarily "need" any new card series after the introduction and minimal follow up of the "Standout" card series last year, but that topic could be its own conversation.
The Last Ride series feels pretty obvious as to the nature of its content — cards of players in the final season of their careers (though it's possible it could include players in the final year with their most notable team). The Contributor series, however, seems to be a lot more difficult to immediately decipher. In 1998 (the year depicted on the card), Wagner did not finish in the top 12 on the Astros in bWAR, yet his 2.70 ERA and 30 saves across 58 appearances did make him a key "contributor" to that year's team.
The lack of a clear definition makes this category feel a bit more arbitrary than the standard card series that we traditionally see each season, and to be honest, I don't necessarily dislike that.
Both of these new card series feel perfect for the reimplementation of the year-long power creep content system. The Last Ride series could give us plenty of different cards ranging from the low diamonds that finished off their careers strong, all the way down to bronze tier cards because — and let's be honest — sometimes careers end on a whimper.
Meanwhile the Contributor series could include cards ranging from low diamond down to silver out the gate, depending on how SDS opts to implement this series. Both could feature prominent early game cycle cards that could end up being sneaky ranked stars or year-long Battle Royale monsters.
Nick is an IBWAA member who has spent time writing for various sports websites over the last 12 years, primarily focusing on baseball. He is also an avid MLB The Show player and is believed to have been the first person in the world to get live series Kyle Hendricks to Parallel 5 every year since the iteration of the parallel system.