One of the main reasons people hang onto cable TV subscriptions, despite the rise of services like Netflix, is to watch live sports. But the landscape of sports TV is slowly changing.

Amazon Prime Video has been showing live Premier League soccer in the UK, while more and more leagues are offering their own in-house subscription services that screen all the games. There has also been a rise in streaming services that specialize in live sports, with Fubo TV leading the way.

Today, we're putting baseball under the microscope to take a look at how to legally stream MLB without a cable plan.

1. MLB.TV

For baseball fanatics, the best way to watch MLB without a cable subscription is to buy a plan on MLB.TV. Two subscription plans are available: All Teams for $130/year or Single Team for $110/year.

The All Teams plan lets you stream out-of-market games live and watch on-demand games to catch up with the week's action. There is also a massive library of on-demand content you can watch; it includes classic games, talk shows, feature content, documentaries, analysis, and more.

The Single Team plan lets you watch out-of-market content from just a single team of your choosing. Again, on-demand games are available as well as the historical library.

All the games on the platform are broadcast at 60 FPS, and you can choose from home or away audio feeds. DVR is supported, meaning you can pause the action to grab a drink or rewind it to rewatch a game-defining moment. You also get access to MLB Audio. It provides audio-only coverage of every game, regardless of the package you have and the market in which the game is taking place.

As you would expect with baseball coverage, you will also have access to a litany of live stats during the game, covering every facet of the action.

However, despite all the features, the service does have some notable drawbacks. Perhaps the biggest annoyance for diehard fans is the "blackouts." Blackouts are a common feature of American sports; they mean that people cannot watch games from teams in their local city. If you want to watch those games, you will either need to pay an additional premium rate via a cable provider or head to the stadium in person. Games that are blacked out on TV are also blacked out on MLB.TV; there are no workarounds.

Secondly, the MLB.TV service is only available in the US, so if you're an American expat or a European fan with a passion for the American baseball leagues, sadly, this is not the service for you.

2. Fubo TV

Aside from MLB.TV, you can also watch baseball on the various TV networks that hold the broadcast rights.

The only terrestrial channel with broadcast rights in FOX, though it does not show all the games. On cable, there are four networks that show games. They are ESPN, FOX Sports 1, MLB Network, and TBS.

Because games are available on regular TV channels, it means you can use live TV streaming services to watch games, assuming the service carries the network(s) you need.

Unsurprisingly, the best live TV streaming service for watching baseball is Fubo TV. It has three of the four networks you need: ESPN, FOX Sports 1, and MLB Network.

For those who don't know, Fubo TV specializes in sports, unlike some of its competitors in the marketplace. It means that if you love all sports rather than just baseball, Fubo is definitely the best option available. You can use your plan to tune into competitions like the English Premier League, WWE Smackdown, the UEFA Champions League, the Tour de France, the tennis majors, the golf majors, and more.

Fubo's basic plan starts at $65/month. Various add-ons and higher tiers are available, depending on what you want from your subscription.

3. Sling TV

Another option that lets you watch MLB without a cable plan is Sling TV.

Sling offers two different subscription packages, each with a different lineup of channels. From an MLB perspective, Sling Blue carries FOX Sports 1, Sling Orange has ESPN, and TBS and MLB Network are available on both plans. As such, it means Sling lets you watch all the MLB games that would be available via a cable subscription, unlike Fubo, which is missing TBS.

Sling Orange and Sling Blue are available for $35 each. However, if you want all four networks, you will need to bundle Sling Blue and Sling Orange together into a single plan. The bundled plan costs $50/month, which still works cheaper than Fubo.

The downside of Sling is the lack of other sports. Sure, some other sports networks are available, including ESPN 2 and ESPN 3, NFL Network, SEC Network, and NBA TV, but it lacks the vast number of other competitions that you can watch on Fubo.

4. Hulu + Live TV

The final live TV streaming service that is worth considering if you want to watch MLB via the web or your smart TV is Hulu. It carries three of the four networks you need to tune in: FOX Sports 1, ESPN, and TBS. The missing channel is MLB Network. Sadly, it is not available at all (i.e., there is no add-on that will add the channel to your package).

Hulu offers multiple subscription tiers. At the low end, you can forgo the live TV option entirely if you pay just $6/month. However, the cheapest package that offers access to the networks you need is Hulu + Live TV. It is available for $65/month—exactly the same amount as Hulu. The price also includes access to Hulu's massive library of on-demand video content, meaning it represents one of the best value-for-money live TV streaming providers.

Where Should You Watch MLB?

No solution is perfect. All the services are affected by game blackouts depending on the market and/or opposition, while Sling TV is the only service that provides access to all four networks that carry MLB in the US markets.

If you're a real MLB lover, the MLB.TV service offers the most comprehensive coverage. Most other sports lovers should opt for a subscription with Hulu instead.