First of all, it was never owned by ESPN; the franchise has always been produced by some combination of Sega Sports/Visual Concepts/Kush Games/2K Sports. So you're still getting the exact same team, except EA bought the ESPN rights. MLB 2K6 will still have Jim Miller and Joe Morgan, the announcers for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. There just won't be ESPN menus and such. If 2K Sports does one thing well, it is presentation, and it is above and beyond most other sports games.

Second of all, it will feature the InsideEdge system, which takes three years of stats and inputs them into the players to give them their real-life mannerisms and habits. The idea is that you can scout players (by purchasing the reports), but also see them play as their real life counterparts (which, especially for pitchers, would be awesome). From what reviewers/previews have said, this has been done well.

Third, they have redone many animations, at least in the fielding department. This may be subjective though, since 2K Sports says they are the ones doing it. But nonetheless, in the Q+A sessions on their site, they have allegedly fixed many problematic or just plain bad animations that have hindered the series in the past.

Fourth, they have real free agents, which MLB '06: The Show does not. I don't really understand why, but I'm assuming it must have something to do with the exclusivity rights with MLB and the Players Association.

Fifth, 2K Sports has now incorporated "payoff pitching," which is where in certain situations (0-2 count, full count, etc.) the catcher will call the best pitch for that situation, and the location. If you can pull it off, you'll get an improvement on the ratings for that pitch in the game. If not though, I think the player might have a better chance and ripping it for a HR. Also, they've changed pitching from a conventional location system (where you aim the cursor and that is generally where the ball goes) to a system where now you locate where it will break; if you want a curveball to drop off when it comes to the batter, you've gotta figure out the spot where it will happen.

Simply put, the 2K series sounds like it has many new features and improvements that should make it a great game. But if you really want to know which to get, I'd suggest renting MLB '06: The Show first, and if you don't like it, then buy the 2K game.