Franchise Mode in MLB The Show 25 is still one of the deepest and most rewarding experiences in sports gaming. But if you want your franchise to feel truly your own—and make each season exciting—you’ll need to dig into the settings. As someone who’s spent dozens of hours tweaking sliders, trying out budgets, and testing realism options, here are 14 Franchise Mode settings you should customize to get the most out of your game.
1. Trade Frequency
Start by lowering trade frequency to avoid seeing unrealistic blockbuster trades every other week. It keeps your league feeling organic and believable across seasons.
2. Budget
Adjust your team’s budget to reflect real-world constraints or your own challenge level. Whether you want to build like a small-market team or go full luxury, the budget setting changes the way you plan long-term.
3. Injury Frequency
If you’re after realism, bump this up slightly so you’ll need to rely on organizational depth. Or turn it down if you hate seeing stars miss half the season.
4. GM Contracts
Turn on GM contracts to add pressure and purpose. You’ll have goals to meet, which keeps each season fresh instead of mindlessly simming year after year.
5. CPU Roster Control
Disable this if you want the AI teams to actually manage themselves, make trades, and shuffle lineups. It keeps the league dynamic.
6. Player Development Rate
Slower development makes your farm system matter more, while faster development speeds up rebuilds. Find the balance that feels right for your play style.
7. Scouting Effectiveness
Customizing scouting effectiveness makes each draft feel unique. Boost it slightly for a more rewarding draft day, or lower it to make scouting truly unpredictable.
8. Simulation Sliders
Tweak batting averages, home run rates, and pitching performance to get season stats closer to real MLB numbers.
9. Trade Approval
Consider requiring manual approval of all trades to keep the league balanced. This lets you veto trades that feel too one-sided or unrealistic.
10. DH Rule
Universal DH or league-specific—pick based on how you want your franchise to play. Universal DH can boost offense and help older players stay useful longer.
11. Coaching Staff Impact
Enable this to make hiring staff more than cosmetic. Coaches and scouts will shape player development and draft success.
12. Season Length
You can shorten seasons if you want to move through multiple years faster. Playing a 162-game season is rewarding but time-consuming.
13. Prospect Call-Ups
Adjust CPU call-up logic so the AI promotes prospects realistically. You can also manually monitor top prospects to keep the league’s talent pipeline flowing.
14. Auto vs. Manual Training
Manual training gives you fine control over how players develop. It takes more time but can lead to a more personalized roster over multiple seasons.
Franchise Mode gets even better when you have the flexibility to build the team your way. And if you’re the type of player who likes to grab those breakout prospects or lock in high-value veterans, you might also look into ways to keep your budget flexible. Some players choose to buy MLB The Show 25 stubs for quick roster boosts, while others search for cheap MLB The Show 25 stubs for sale to stay competitive without grinding endlessly.
Sites like U4N are often discussed in the community as a source to buy MLB The Show 25 stubs, though it’s always best to do your research and stick to your comfort zone.
Whether you’re rebuilding, chasing a dynasty, or just enjoying the grind of a multi-season save, customizing these settings in MLB The Show 25 will keep your Franchise Mode both challenging and fun year after year.
