MLB The Show Covers: I Have Some Questions

Let's make something very clear: the MLB offseason is tedious as hell. While the NBA is seeing potentially league-altering moves made shortly after its draft unfolded, baseball fans are stuck here analyzing Charlie Morton. Baseball is, in many ways, the antithesis of cool, so forgive me if the following topic doesn't exactly seem all that, well, topical. But do not let this dissuade you from the fact that the following words are still incredibly important.

I need to posit some incredibly important questions regarding the selection process of cover athletes for theMLB The Showfranchise. Not just one or two, but three questions about the popular series that nobody seems to be brave enough to ask until now. Strap in.

Extremely Important Question #1: How the Hell has Mike Trout Never Been the Cover Athlete?

As someone who takes a great deal of pride in their disdain for math, it pains me to admit that even I can't surmise a way out of one inescapable truth: Mike Trout is an all-timer. By nearly every metric, Trout is baseball's kingslayer and destroyer of worlds. It's true there hasn't exactly been one truly memorable Mike Troutmoment, but that's probably more due to the glorious ineptitude of the Los Angeles Angels franchise.

But do you know what's, perhaps, even more tragic? Trout hasn't just been barred from the playoffs, but even theMLB The Showfranchise has shunned him. Not once has he had the opportunity to grace the cover of an entry in the series. His lack of playoff opportunities should have no bearing on his inclusion.

To a much lesser degree, Mike Trout never securing a cover is like when Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar dry spell was in effect (untilThe Revenantin 2015, which is probably going to go down as his least memorable movie. The Oscars suck). We're all just expected to keep chugging along, meandering through our pointless little existences, and act like this is okay? Meritocracy is a myth, sure, but you would think that someone of Mike Trout's demi-god stature would be the rare exception to the fact. It's the least the universal overlords could give us.

Extremely Important Question #2: Is there an MLB The Show Curse?

Building somewhat on my previous point, let's discuss just who exactly has graced the cover ofThe Showfranchise each year. The Showseries really started dominating and became the definitive baseball game over the last decade, so we'll limit the scope to that time frame. How many players did Trout justifiably lose out to? And more importantly, is there anMLB The Showcurse similar to the infamousMaddencurse?

MLB 10 The Show Cover: Joe Mauer

2010 Joe Mauer: 137 Games; .327 AVG/.402 OBP/.469 SLG; 9 HR, 75 RBI, .871 OPS

I miss Joe Mauer so much. It takes an otherworldly effort for catchers to achieve the heights of fame that Mauer did. The "M&M Bros" era of Minnesota Twins teams were, as a whole, incredibly fun, too. While Mauer's 2010 wasn't as untouchable as his MVP 2009 season, it was a worthy follow-up that suffered no such adverse effects of any potential curse.

MLB 11 The Show Cover: Joe Mauer

2011 Joe Mauer: 82 Games; .287 AVG/.360 OBP/.368 SLG; 3 HR, 30 RBI, .729 OPS

Despite baseball, by the sheer nature of the sport, having an abundance of players to choose from, The Showdidn't shy away from using the same player from the year before (the MLB 2K series, funny enough, actually had Derek Jeter on the cover for three straight years from 2005-2007. C'mon, baseball!). It's almost likeThe Showwas upset that their first game of the decade didn't properly curse Mauer enough for their liking, so they just ran it back to try and finish the job. Despicable, really.

Unfortunately, this cowardly attempt worked. Not only was Mauer's 2011 season disappointing by his standards, but the Twins fell all the way to last place in their division after finishing first the year before. Their lone all-star that season was Michael Cuddyer for crying out loud!

MLB 12 The Show Cover: Adrian Gonzalez

2012 Adrian Gonzalez: 159 Games; .299 AVG/.344 OBP/.463 SLG; 18 HR, 108 RBI, .806 OPS

After racking up an astounding 213 hits in 2011, Gonzalez followed up with a solid, but unspectacular season. Not only that, but he ended up being traded to the Dodgers. However, that might've been a blessing! He escaped the clutches of the notorious Bobby Valentine-managed Red Sox team and landed at a much more competitive club out west. Curse avoided, I'd say.

MLB 13 The Show Cover: Andrew McCutchen

2013 Andrew McCutchen: 157 Games; .317 AVG/.404 OBP/.508 SLG; 21 HR, 84 RBI, .952 OPS

Prime McCutchen was a blast to watch, as he was essentially the do-it-all player for a franchise that had been missing one for years. Cementing McCutchen's king status were not only his stats following his cover selection (chipped in 27 steals too!), but that he became the NL MVP as well! On top of that, he proposed to his girlfriend on Ellen! Not only did he avoid any potential curse, but he grabbed it by the throat, took its lunch money, and shoved it into a locker.

Also, after this year I'd say we're officially on the Mike Trout watch.

MLB 14 The Show Cover: Miguel Cabrera

2014 Miguel Cabrera: 159 Games; .313 AVG/.371 OBP/.524 SLG; 25 HR, 109 RBI, .895 OPS

I know that I just alluded to Mike Trout's candidacy for the cover being officially in play, but Miguel Cabrera deserved this one. Honestly, I would've given him the honor solely for hisreactionto getting that massive contract extension, but winning the Triple Crown -- which hadn't been done since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 -- was a pretty decent enough reason, too. Miggy's triple crown win is probably the last good thing to happen to Tigers fans, so we should let them have this one.

MLB 15 The Show Cover: Yasiel Puig

2015 Yasiel Puig: 79 Games; .255 AVG/.322 OBP/.436 SLG; 11 HR, 38 RBI, .758 OPS

A young player with a zany personality playing in one of the league's top markets, Yasiel Puig -- one could argue -- was one of the more inspired choices for a cover athlete. Unfortunately, Puig has failed to live up to his near-diva persona and hype ever since his breakout 2014 season. In retrospect, Mike Trout should've had this one! He literally won his first MVP award in 2014!

MLB 16 The Show Cover: Josh Donaldson

2016 Josh Donaldson: 155 Games; .284 AVG/.404 OBP/.549 SLG; 37 HR, 99 RBI, .953 OPS

I'll forever have a love for Josh Donaldson and the Blue Jays. Not only did the 2015 and 2016 Blue Jays have a dynamic offense with hardly any elite pitching (Drew Hutchison won 13 games with a 5.57 ERA!), but they provided some incredible playoff moments, with the most notable being their game 5 against the Rangers. Hang Bautista's bat-flip in the Louvre and sentence anyone who disagrees to prison for life.

MLB 17 The Show Cover: Ken Griffey Jr.

This is a tricky one. Even the foulest of demons wouldn't dare slander Ken Griffey Jr. for any reason. However, his selection serves as a microcosm for how seemingly desperate baseball is to have true, world-wide famous superstars in its sport. Trout's apparent indifference to being a mega-celebrity has been well documented (and is perfectly within his right!), andThe Showhaving to reach back into the baseball archives instead of celebrating the, unequivocally, greatest baseball in the world speaks not just volumes, but entire libraries of volumes.

MLB 18 The Show Cover: Aaron Judge

2018 Aaron Judge: 112 Games; .278 AVG/.392 OBP/.528 SLG; 27 HR, 67 RBI, .919 OPS

Was this a "Finally, there's a new popular and good Yankees player!" kind of decision? I'd say that partially played into it, but there was also tremendous merit. Judge had one of the more memorable technically-not-rookie-but-let's-just-pretend-rookie seasons, and hardly anyone saw it coming. Except for A-Rod, apparently:

Someday, fans will look at this pic of@thejudge44and@MichaelONeill10and say "who's the old guy in the middle"pic.twitter.com/29UjaeRKVW-- Alex Rodriguez (@AROD)March 5, 2016

Someday, fans will look at this pic of@thejudge44and@MichaelONeill10and say "who's the old guy in the middle"pic.twitter.com/29UjaeRKVW

His 2017 season was so good, in fact, that he probably deserved to win the MVP award too when you take into account the Astros fiasco. Judge is also just a name begging to be celebrated, so Trout's absence can be excused.

MLB 19 The Show: Bryce Harper

2019 Bryce Harper: 157 Games; .260 AVG/.372 OBP/.510 SLG; 35 HR, 114 RBI, .882 OPS

Oh man, here he is: theboy wonder. By virtue of skill, this is another year Trout probably deserved the cover honor more. However, Harper is a star in his own right and was the biggest signing of the offseason, therefore giving merit to his cover selection. I'd actually argue that The Show curse, despite his numbers, was actually in effect this year. Harper's 2019 season, by virtue of the attention and expectations surrounding him, caused many baseball fans to label him as overrated (which simplyisn't fair). That counts as half a curse in my book.

MLB 20 The Show: Javier Baez

2020 Javier Baez: 59 Games; .203 AVG/.238 OBP/.360 SLG; 8 HR, 24 RBI, .599 OPS

A fellow Javier and Puerto Rican, I won't be besmirching the man too much (especially in a COVID-ridden season). However, Javier Baez is one of those players that's significantly more impressive in fantasy baseball than in real life. His defensive prowess is the stuff of legend, but his bat? Not quite so much. It's a fun guy to showcase, but Trout being ignored after winning his 3rd MVP award is unforgivable.

In conclusion, I'd say over the last 10 years that theMLB The Showcurse has been in three and a half instances (Mauer in 2011, Puig in 2015, somewhat for Harper in 2019, and Baez in 2020). That's not enough to legitimize the curse, but my research does conclude that it's beyond cowardly that Mike Trout has never been recognized.

Extremely Important Question #3: If Fernando Tatis Jr. isn't on the Cover of MLB The Show 21, Should We Riot?

In spite of all of my research, next year's edition ofThe Showshould bestow the cover honors to El Nino himself, Fernando Tatis Jr. Hypocritical, yes, but deservingly so. Thanks to a myriad of breakouts, comebacks, and grand slams, the Padres were the story of the 2020 season and Tatis Jr. was the center of that. Baseball needs to do all it can to prop up the game's most exciting superstar, and considering thesuccessofThe Showremains strong, why not?

We need more of an embrace around Tatis, more creative marketing like the recentAdidas commercial, and more of a recognition that baseball succeeds with players like him. The Show-- and on a greater scale, MLB -- failed Mike Trout, but that doesn't mean they have to repeat the same mistakes. Long live the young king.