Investor Insights: Buy These Players Now
Our market expert highlights the best investment bargains to jump on before the season begins.
Right now is probably the best time to capitalize on some early investment opportunities to help you earn some stubs in MLB the Show. This is the time when most people are not thinking about roster upgrades, so you can stack up on players extremely. It’s also a chance to diversify your selections with little to no risk to your stub count.
Before I get to some investments I like, here are a few players to avoid for the time being. I do like them to get upgraded at some point but WAIT for the price to go down:
Cody Bellinger, 84 Overall: Current Buy now price of 3850 and buy order of 3450. He’s basically selling as an 86 overall with those prices. There’s zero need to buy him right now. If you did, you must hope he hits 87 overall to start making stubs.
Elly De La Cruz, 76 Overall: Current buy now price of 1450 and buy order of 1210. Arguably the most POPULAR prospect out there right now, but he’s selling as an 83-84 at the moment. Wait for him to get up in an update or for his price to come down from collections getting finished up. You’d be risking almost 1000-1100 stubs per order if you bought right now.
Oneil Cruz, 74 Overall: Current buy now price of 950 and buy order of 820. MASSIVE spring training for Cruz, who is coming off an injury-shortened season. I think he is a prime candidate to jump to high gold or diamond, but he’s selling right now as an 81-82 overall. Not worth the risk in case he does somehow start slow. You’d be risking almost 750 stubs per order if you bought right now.
Now, here are the guys that I am investing in right now. Next week, I’ll have a list of my favorite investments from all 30 teams.
Bryon Buxton, 82 Overall, Cost: 960 stubs (60 stub risk): He’s having an excellent spring training, and if he can keep that going, then we’re looking at an easy diamond. Last year, he finished as a diamond despite hitting only .207 and 17 home runs.
He hasn’t played in over 100 games since 2017, so he’s gotta stay healthy and be a little more consistent at the plate. If he can get back to 2022 with a .224 average and a .526 slugging, that’s definitely a diamond.
If he somehow goes back to his ‘21 campaign with a .647 slug and 1.005 OPS, we’re looking at a high diamond of 88 or 89 as well. His price is a little high now with the influx of new players from release day.
Jordan Walker, 76 Overall, Cost: 130 stubs (55 stub risk): Walker finished as an 80 gold after getting a +4 boost in September, in one of the final updates on the season in his ROOKIE campaign.
Due to him being a rookie last year, it took them a little longer to upgrade him than some other players around the league.
Jarren Duran, 76 Overall, Cost: 130 stubs (55 stub risk): Jarren is going into his 3rd season with the Red Sox major league team (last year was borderline his true rookie year where he saw 100+ games) and finished as an 80 overall in 2023; he started as a 66 overall bronze. He’ll be bumped much quicker this year if he can have a similar season to last year.
Christian Walker, 84 Overall, Cost: 1515 stubs (15 stub risk): Christian was overshadowed last year by Corbin Carroll's emergence, but he made it to the diamond as well. He raised his batting average by 16 points last year to .258 and hit 11 more doubles than the previous year. He already has silver defense, so we really just need a hot start from Walker, and you can easily double your stubs if he hits 85.
Josh Naylor, 83 Overall, Cost 1235 (35 stub risk): Josh broke out last year and raised his batting average by 50 points from 2022. He finished as a diamond in ‘23, which makes him a prime candidate to be upgraded early if he can start off hot. On a team that only has one diamond (J-Ram), he’s probably one of my favorite investment opportunities this year.
Bryson Scott, 81 Overall, Cost 610 (10 stu risk): Bryson, was one of my favorite investments in ‘23 because it took a couple of months for him to get boosted. I think he’s a longer investment choice, due to the other players on the Phillies. However, I could definitely see him getting back to 84 overall which would be 1500 stubs per order (1.5x current value)
If he starts hot, he could be this year's Jonah Heim.
The Show Investments is the Chief Market Analyst for Perfect Perfect. Follow him on Twitter at @showinvestments for up-to-the-minute market advice.
The RTTS Glitch is No More
Yesterday I mentioned a glitch in RTTS that allowed you to grab tons of packs, including 19 for diamond equipment. Those early to exploit the glitch pocket more than a million stubs but those profits dwindled as the day went.
I did not get done doing the RTTS missions until nearly 11 p.m. and had to just quick sell what I got. While it was still worth it, I missed the huge payday. As of this morning, word on the Internet was the glitch was no more, but I cannot confirm that. While I typically do not exploit flaws in the game, I’m so tired of card flipping for stubs that I just wanted some to get the live collection done.
Did you do the glitch? How many stubs did you clear?
Rays Gaming with a New Tournament
The Tampa Bay Rays will again host an MLB the Show tournament. Qualifying starts on April 11. More details are here and here.