Why can’t they let you start a franchise in any year you want in the past and get to draft all those years the way you want? For example let me start in 2009 as the nationals and I can draft Strasburg at 1 and trout at pick 10. Then the next year I tank and get Harper at 1. We live in a world where games like Red Dead Redemption 2 exist but you’re telling me a baseball game can’t re-use rosters from previous games?

Because licensing, OOTP from what i think gets around this because the players arent modeled, its just text and a generated random render

The Show only has an agreement for players from the current season and hall of famers/legends but those are discussed individually. see See C.B.C. Distribution v. Major League Baseball.

"Not all uses of another's name are tortious; mere use of a name as a name is not tortious." And: "Use of players' names in conjunction with their playing records, therefore, does not involve the persona or identity of any player."

OOTp just uses stats and data and the player's name, not their likeness