Next Ball Up
FLYMOLO | April 27, 2026
The draft is done. Rosters are set. And for six players heading into this season, the stakes go beyond standings and Super Balls. They're chasing the Ball of Fame.
If you pull up the career legacy leaderboard on TagPro Reference, a pattern jumps out immediately: every player in the top 16 (with the lone exception of d0pe at #9) has been inducted into the Ball of Fame. The magic number is 107.0 — that's Crippy's career score at #16, built on ten MLTP seasons, a third-place MVB finish, five All-Star nods, a Super Ball ring, and four Super Ball losses. It's the benchmark, and six players in this season's draft are within striking distance of clearing it.
Here's who to watch, what they need, and how realistic it is.
Messi — 42 Points Away | Career: 103.5 | Drafted at 42%
The storyline: Twenty-one MLTP seasons. Three Super Ball wins. Zero Super Ball losses. Ten All-Star selections. The most decorated player outside the Ball of Fame is about to play a season that should end the debate.
At 42% draft value, Messi banks roughly 7 legacy points from the TC component before a single game is played. That leaves about 35 points to earn — a number Messi has cleared routinely throughout his career. His S34 (3rd seed, lost in the Foci Four, 24.4 TSCAR) and S35 (6th seed, lost in the Foci Four, 25.7 TSCAR) were both in this range. Full season of starts, a playoff series win or two, solid production. No awards needed.
What to watch for: Honestly? Just watch the minutes column. If Messi plays a full season and makes the playoffs, 107 is all but locked. This is the closest thing to a coronation on the list.
Fender — 64 Points Away | Career: 98.9
The storyline: Thirteen seasons deep, fender has built a career on consistency — a third-place MVB finish, six All-Star nods, a Super Ball ring. But the career peak sits at 56.4 legacy points, and 64 is a different tier entirely.
The comparables at 64 points paint a clear picture. Crippy's S17: first seed, lost the Super Ball, 36.4 TSCAR. Gryff's S26: third seed, won the Super Ball, 29.4 TSCAR. Phreak's S33: first overall seed, lost in the Foci Four, 30.7 TSCAR. These are All-Star caliber seasons on top-seeded teams with deep playoff runs.
What to watch for: Where fender landed in the draft matters enormously. A top-3 seed, a TSCAR north of 30, and a run to at least the Foci Four — ideally the Super Ball. Fender would need to exceed the career peak by about 8 points. That's a big ask, but 13 seasons of experience means fender knows what a winning team looks like from the inside.
CarrotCake — 66 Points Away | Career: 98.0 | Drafted at 80%
The storyline: CarrotCake has already done this. Season 32 — third seed, lost in the Foci Four, 30.1 TSCAR, second in MVB voting, first-team Well Rounded, first-team Best Defense Pair — scored 66.6 legacy points. The blueprint exists.
At 80% draft value, CarrotCake pockets 9 TC points before tip-off, the biggest cushion on this list. The multiplier on team components rewards high-TC players for their team's success. The flip side: 80% means the rest of the roster is built on a budget. The team rises and falls with CarrotCake.
What to watch for: CarrotCake's peak is 83.0 — a top-10 all-time single season. In just five MLTP seasons, CarrotCake has produced at a rate most players never reach in fifteen. The talent and the track record are both there. Watch for dominant two-way production early in the season and a team that gels around its star. If the playoff seed lands top-3, the Ball of Fame math takes care of itself.
NameLEss — 76 Points Away | Career: 92.7
The storyline: Two Super Ball wins across 13 seasons prove NameLEss shows up when it matters. But the career peak is 58.3 (S35, Super Ball champion), and 76 means exceeding that by nearly 18 points — a massive leap.
Seasons at the 76-point level are rare. meowza's S36: first overall seed, lost the Super Ball, 41.8 TSCAR. DT's S22: first seed, won the Super Ball. SluffAndRuff's S37: first seed, lost in the Foci Four, 42.6 TSCAR. These are seasons where everything breaks right — the team dominates the standings, the player posts a historically high TSCAR, and the playoff run goes deep.
What to watch for: NameLEss needs to be the best player on a championship-caliber team. First or second seed, Super Ball appearance almost mandatory, TSCAR above 40, and probably a major award (OBOS, DBOS, or MVB third). At a sub-50% draft price, the TC cushion is thin, so the stats carry most of the weight. A slow start to the season would make the hill almost unclimbable.
Syniikal — 79 Points Away | Career: 90.4
The storyline: Eighteen seasons. A Super Ball ring. An MVB runner-up finish. And a career peak of 62.0 (S33, Super Ball champion). Reaching 79 would mean a 17-point jump above anything Syniikal has ever produced.
Only about 20 seasons in MLTP history have cracked 79 legacy points. The comparables are generational seasons: BALLDON'TLIE's S37 (second seed, lost the Super Ball, 43.8 TSCAR, 103 TC) and Doris's S19 (first seed, lost in the Foci Four as a captain with monster TSCAR).
What to watch for: MVB contention from Week 1. First or second seed. Elite TSCAR in both the regular season and playoffs. Every component needs to hit — high stats, deep run, top award, strong team record. One weak link and the math falls short. Syniikal has the experience of 18 seasons, and this season will tell us if there's a gear we haven't seen yet.
Meowza — 83 Points Away | Career: 88.2 | Drafted at 50%
The storyline: The steepest climb on this list, and the most heartbreaking near-miss behind it. Meowza's S36 — first overall seed, lost the Super Ball, 41.8 TSCAR — scored 75.6 legacy points. Win that Super Ball instead of losing it, and the extra 10 playoff points push that season to roughly 85. That alone would have cleared 107 career. One game. One result. One different bounce.
At 50% draft value, meowza gets about 7.5 TC points. An 83-point season puts you in the company of CarrotCake's S30 (first seed, won the Super Ball, 38.9 TSCAR) and tng's S32 (first seed, won the Super Ball, 36.5 TSCAR, first-team MVB). These are top-10 all-time individual seasons.
What to watch for: Meowza needs to repeat S36 — first seed, 40+ TSCAR, dominant regular season — and win the Super Ball this time. With a major award on top. In a league where 50–60 legacy points is a strong season and high-70s is exceptional, 83 has only been reached a handful of times in league history. It's the longest shot on this list. But with only four prior MLTP seasons, meowza may still have room to grow — and S36 proved the ceiling is already among the highest in the game.
The Season Ahead
The career legacy formula rewards sustained excellence and peak brilliance in equal measure. The cubic scaling means every great season matters, but a single legendary one can move the needle more than five decent ones combined. Messi's coronation feels inevitable. CarrotCake has a proven blueprint to follow. Fender needs a career year. And for NameLEss, Syniikal, and meowza, the Ball of Fame demands a historic season — the kind that gets talked about for years.
Six players. One threshold. The draft is over. Now we watch.
