MLB The Show 25 is finally here! The annual release of the series brings new excitement for baseball and sports gaming fans. One of the most popular modes in the game is the Road to the Show. For years, players have loved creating their own personas and climbing the ranks of the minor leagues. How soon a player can get called up to the major leagues depends on your player’s position and the team that drafts you. Getting drafted by a team that is stacked at your position could mean a long slog in the minors. Here are the best teams to get drafted by as a third baseman.
Let’s start with a caveat. You have to be good in the minor leagues. It doesn’t matter what position you play if you swing at bad pitches, miss your spots, or make boneheaded baserunning errors. This list is meant to look at where there is the most opportunity to get to the majors as quickly as possible based on the projected Opening Day starter. However, it is also meant to showcase some unexpected teams for each position and ones that could be competing for the World Series soon. The Chicago White Sox are great but you probably aren’t winning many championships in the near future. Onto the list!
Projected Starter: Oswaldo Cabrera 75 Overall in MLB The Show 25
Cabrera is a nice young player for the Yankees. In three seasons, he has been serviceable, becoming a utility player on the team. However, his stats don’t jump off the page. Last season, he had a .247 batting average with eight home runs and 36 RBIs. He is a solid fielder, but this is an easy skill to overtake in Road to the Show.
Carving out a spot in the Yankees lineup wouldn’t be hard. One area that the team could really benefit from is a speedster at the top of the lineup. If you craft a base-stealing fiend in Road to the Show, you could score a lot of runs with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton behind you. The injury concerns in real life don’t exist in MLB The Show 25, so this team should be in contention for a World Series over the next few years, making it the perfect team to join.
Projected Starter: Max Muncy 78 Overall in MLB The Show 25
Everyone assumes the Los Angeles Dodgers are stacked at every position. While they do have All-Star players up and down the roster, third base is not one of them. Muncy is a quality veteran, but his batting average has been awful the past five seasons. He hasn’t hit .250 since 2019. Last year, he hit .232 with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs.
Do you want to win World Series rings in MLB The Show 25? Hooking up with the Dodgers is a great plan. This is a team that isn’t great for every position. However, if you are a third baseman, you could find yourself in the majors quickly. Then, you’ll be on a team with Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts. If you can stomach joining the super team, do it.
Projected Starter: Vinny Capra 59 Overall in MLB The Show 25
The Brewers just optioned their other third baseman to Triple-A, making Capra the likely starter for Opening Day. Milwaukee has often gone with a platoon at certain positions, favoring players who can play all around the infield. This helps in giving people days off if injuries strike. For your purposes, it means a possible fast track to the major leagues.
It is not hard to beat out a 59 overall player in Road to the Show. If you start your Double-A career off with a bang, there may be nothing standing in your way. It’s possible you could have the position locked up for the next decade with little competition. While Milwaukee isn’t the favorite in the National League every year, they have won three of the last four NL Central titles. You want as many shots at the postseason as possible.
MLB The Show 25 made some awesome improvements to Road to the Show this year. Adding in college teams adds another layer of realism to the game. Are you ready to join a long list of legendary third basemen? Getting drafted by the right team is essential to your success. Make your choice carefully to maximize your legacy!
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The Cleveland Browns are giving Shedeur Sanders special treatment in training camp, but it's not the type of favoritism the fifth-round pick would necessarily want. Per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, Sanders is the only Browns quarterback who has not been taking reps with the first-team offense during OTAs or the first two practices of training camp. Former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett, veteran Joe Flacco and rookie Dillon Gabriel have all split reps with the first team. Despite being asked to throw passes to members of the equipment staff amid a shortage of professional pass-catchers for a four-quarterback roster, Sanders said he's thankful for the opportunity to show the Browns coaching staff his talents. "I feel like that it's not in my control, so I'm not going to think about that or even have that in my thought process of why it is," Sanders said to a question as to why he's not getting first-team reps. "There's a lot of people who want to have the opportunity to be at this level, and I'm here and I'm thankful to have the opportunity. So, whenever that is, that is." Sanders, 23, believes that he can contribute more to the Browns than what the coaching staff is asking of him. "It doesn't make me feel down or left out because I know who I am as a person," Sanders said. "I know who I am as an individual and I know what I could bring to this team. So, I can never feel less than any circumstance." The Browns selected Sanders with the No. 144 pick in April's draft. As a player whom many draft analysts thought was a first-round talent, Cleveland took what could be the steal of the draft in the fifth round. It's curious why the Browns aren't giving Sanders a shot with the first team early in training camp before the quarterback race becomes more serious. Cleveland should absolutely see what Sanders has to offer this summer. Flacco, 40, isn't a long-term solution at the position. Pickett failed in Pittsburgh. The Browns need to gauge what rookies Gabriel and Sanders can do with the first team. Having Sanders throw balls to the equipment staff is a waste of everyone's time. But then again, Cleveland has wasted plenty of quarterbacks.
Shortly after former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback and current college football analyst Greg McElroy shared that someone "in the know" believes there's a possibility Nick Saban — who retired in January 2024 — might return to coaching, NFL insider Albert Breer suggested that the Dallas Cowboys could be a potential destination for the seven-time national champion. According to Mike Rodak of 247Sports, Saban was asked during a Friday appearance on Fox News if he intends to come out of retirement. "No, I'm really happy with what I'm doing right now," Saban responded. "It's exciting to still be involved in the game. It's exciting for me to work with athletic directors, conference commissioners, people in Congress to preserve the integrity of our game and continue to be able to create opportunities to help young people create value for their future that will help them be successful in their life, which is what we always try to do as a coach." Saban, now working as an ESPN analyst, will be 74 in October. Per Christian Datoc of the Washington Examiner, President Donald Trump could consider having Saban "lead a new commission examining problems arising with the growth of name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and coinciding changes to the NCAA transfer process." Meanwhile, it's thought that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones could look to hire a big-name candidate if first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer fails to impress during the 2025 campaign. Additionally, Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd recently hinted that Saban could be interested in becoming the head coach of the Cleveland Browns if the team selects Texas quarterback Arch Manning as the first pick in the 2026 draft. "There is no opportunity that I know of right now that would enhance me to go back to coaching," Saban added during Friday's segment. "I enjoy what I'm doing. I did it for 50 years. I loved it. I loved the relationships with the players. I loved the competition. But it's another station of life now. I enjoy what I'm doing right now and want to continue to do it — spend more time with my family, my grandchildren, my children. It's been really, really good." The "right now" portion of Saban's comments attracted the attention of Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, who was quick to point out he did not say "no for good" regarding a return to coaching. In short, it seems that rumors about Saban's future could hover over the college and pro football communities through at least the rest of the year.
The New York Yankees didn't come into the season with the strongest third base situation, and it only got worse over time. They converted traditional second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the hot corner after getting him at the Trade Deadline last season and installed a timeshare with him, DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, and Oswaldo Cabrera there in 2025. However, the latter player broke his ankle on May 12, and the Yankees released the now 37-year-old LeMahieu on July 10. Chisholm was primarily back at second at that point, so this left Peraza and Jorbit Vivas as their only true remaining third basemen. With Peraza hitting .147 and Vivas hitting .164, it was clear what the team's biggest need was. That's why it acquired veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies on Friday. New York manager Aaron Boone gave his thoughts about the 30-year-old before Friday's bout with the Philadelphia Phillies, via SNY. "I know there's real offensive potential there. I know he's had real offensive success, as well as some struggles there over the last calendar year or two," he said. "It seems like over the last month he's really started swinging the bat like he's capable of. He can impact the ball, he can control the strike zone, he's had some swing-and-misses that have probably hurt him a little bit." "But then he can really defend over there," he continued. "The handful of times that we've played against them that I watch him, you're like, 'That's what it should look like over there.' He moves really well and has that prototypical good third base thing." McMahon is slashing .217/.314/.403 with 16 homers and 35 RBI over 100 games this season. He also has a .978 fielding percentage and six errors. Right-handed pitcher Will Warren (6-5, 4.91 ERA) will start for the Yankees against Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker (3-5, 3.75 ERA) on Friday.
The Michigan football QB room will look a whole lot different in 2025 than it did in 2024. Out of the five QBs the Wolverines had in 2024, only two return this upcoming season. With both Davis Warren and Jadyn Davis back in Ann Arbor, Michigan lost the trio of Jack Tuttle, Jayden Denegal, and Alex Orji. Both Denegal and Orji left for a chance to start, and according to On3's Pete Nakos, it sounds like at least one of the two is about guaranteed that chance in 2025. Denegal, the 6-foot-5 signal caller, transferred to San Diego State, where he is expected to start in Year 1 with the program. Denegal never had much of a chance in Ann Arbor, but for most of his career, he was behind J.J. McCarthy. It was telling, however, in 2024, Denegal was the only Michigan QB to not get any snaps. In his Wolverines career, Denegal went 4-for-5 for 50 yards and a touchdown -- all coming in 2023 in mop-up duty. As for Orji, he's in a battle -- like he was in 2024. The dual-threat signal caller opted to transfer to UNLV to play under offensive guru Dan Mullen. But according to Nakos, he will have to battle former Virginia QB Anthony Colandrea for the starting gig. Colandrea has the most experience and impressed during his time at UVA, throwing for 4,083 yards and 26 touchdowns. Orji began the 2024 season battling for the job, and most thought he would win it, but it was Warren who got the start. After struggling to start the year, Sherrone Moore inserted Orji into the starting lineup. But Michigan used Orji as a one-trick pony. The Wolverines showed their hands by consistently running the football and not giving Orji much time to gain any sort of consistency throwing the football. After Orji's trial as a starter ended, it was Tuttle and then Warren who started the rest of the season. In 2024, Orji threw for 150 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. On the ground, he rushed for 269 yards and a score. It will be interesting to see how Mullen utilizes the 235-pound quarterback.