The infancy of the 2010 MLB season is wearing off at this point. Interleague play has begun and the All-Star voting is in full swing. To get an idea of what lies ahead, we have already simulated the the 2010 season in MLB 2K10.

Here now is what the 2010 season looks like in MLB 10: The Show.

AL East

This was, by far, the most competitive division in baseball. Four of the five teams finished above the .500 mark, and they all finished within two games of each other. The Yankees squeaked out a division title just ahead of the Red Sox and Rays. The teams from Boston and Tampa Bay needed an extra game to determine the wild-card outcome. The Red Sox, behind John Lackey, beat the Rays in the tiebreaker by a score of 9-2. The underrated Blue Jays just missed creating a three-way tie.

Yankees: 92-70
Red Sox: 92-71 (wild-card birth after beating Rays in one-game playoff)
Rays: 91-72
Blue Jays: 90-72
Orioles: 80-82

AL Central

The White Sox, led by some stellar pitching, outperformed expectations and the favored Twins by putting up 95 wins en route to winning the division by nine games. Meanwhile, the Tigers and Royals proved to be mediocre, while the Indians put up triple digits in the loss column.

White Sox: 95-67
Twins: 86-76
Tigers: 77-85
Royals: 70-92
Indians: 61-101

AL West

Out west, the Angels ran away with the title in what was the worst division in baseball. In fact, the Angels were the only team to finish with a winning record in the division. The Mariners, despite having a pretty talented roster, could not make things interesting. The Athletics also came within seven games of setting the AL record for losses in a season (119 by Detroit in 2003).

Angels: 94-68
Mariners: 79-83
Rangers: 72-90
Athletics: 50-112

AL Batting Leaders

Chone Figgins: .346 Batting Average
Juan Rivera: 44 Home Runs
Juan Rivera: 133 RBI
Juan Pierre: 74 Stolen Bases

AL Pitching Leaders

Justin Verlander: 19 Wins
Mark Buehrle: 16 Losses (also won 14)
Jake Peavy: 2.56 ERA
Jake Peavy: 244 Strikeouts
Jason Frasor and Jonathan Papelbon: 50 Saves

MLB '10: The Show has the Yankees in a familiar position: Winning the AL East.

NL East

This division was interesting to watch because the Nationals led the division throughout most of the early summer. The Phillies characteristically got hot down the stretch, losing only a handful of games in August and September, and finished 20 games above .500.

Phillies: 91-71
Braves: 81-81
Nationals: 74-88
Mets: 73-89
Marlins: 65-97

NL Central

The Cardinals recorded the third highest win total in their franchise history and won the toughest division in the National League. Meanwhile, the Astros blew away their franchise record for losses, which had stood at 91. The Pirates broke that long stretch of losing seasons, finishing with a winning record for the first time since 1992. The Cubs took the wild card, and the Brewers and Reds rounded out the division with respectable but ultimately disappointing records.

Cardinals: 102-60
Cubs: 93-69 (wild card)
Brewers: 85-77
Pirates: 82-80
Reds: 82-80
Astros: 48-114

NL West

The Dodgers and Rockies battled it out until the end of the season, but the men in purple fell short of both the division and wild-card titles. The rest of the teams in the division were average -- they perhaps even underachieved. The Padres were out of the race by early August.

Dodgers: 94-68
Rockies: 91-71
Diamondbacks: 83-79
Giants: 80-82
Padres: 78-84

NL Batting Leaders

Lance Berkman: .354 Batting Average (did not play most of Sept/Oct with a shoulder tear)
Ryan Braun: 55 Home Runs
Ryan Howard: 157 RBI
Michael Bourn: 70 Stolen Bases

NL Pitching Leaders

Chris Carpenter: 22 Wins
Wandy Rodriguez: 17 Losses
Chris Carpenter: 2.05 ERA
Jonathan Sanchez: 233 Strikeouts
Ryan Franklin: 51 Saves

Player Movement

There were not a ton of truly big-name trades made. Most of the interesting moves involved prospects (this sim used Knight and Co's roster). The Padres traded Adrian Gonzalez at the trade deadline to the Royals in exchange for Kyle Farnsworth and top pitching prospect Mike Montgomery. In the NL, the Phillies sent Jamie Moyer and outfield prospect Dominic Brown to the Cubs for pitching prospect Jay Jackson.

All-Star Game

The AL won the game by a score of 11-9.

American League:

The Red Sox fought hard to beat the White Sox, needing five games to win the ALDS. The Yankees rolled over the Angels in four games.

In the ALCS, the classic Boston-New York rivalry lived on (to the virtual media's delight I'm sure). The Red Sox did not allow it to go to Game 7 because they beat the Yanks in six games. Boston's trip to the World Series marks a great turnaround for a team that needed an extra game just to get into the playoffs.

Victor Martinez was primarily responsible for Boston's success, finishing the series with a .459 batting average, 5 home runs and 17 RBI.

National League

Despite leading all of baseball with 100-plus wins, the Cardinals were swept by the Phillies in the NLDS. The Dodgers once again beat the luckless Cubs, winning the series in four games and setting up a third straight Phillies/Dodgers NLCS.

The potent offense of the Phillies made up for some shaky pitching (the Moyer trade and a few injuries meant even Antonio Bastardo had a spot in the rotation). Their offense was enough to send the Dodgers home yet again, winning the series in six game. In essence, the Phillies became their own "red machine" by clinching a spot in the World Series for the third time in three years.

Ryan Howard led the Phils and the NL, batting .415 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI. His performance earned him the NLCS MVP award.

In the Series, the Red Sox replicated what actually happened this past weekend by beating Roy Halladay and the rest of the Phillies to win the Fall Classic four games to one. During the Series, the pitching continued to be a letdown for the Phillies -- even their one win came late in a game after the hitters erased a bad start by Cole Hamels. Meanwhile, the Red Sox negated Philadelphia's powerful offense, and replicated their magical 2004 World Series by becoming only the fifth wild-card World Series winners.

Victor Martinez earned the MVP trophy in the World Series as well by hitting .571 with 4 home runs.

MVP
AL: Juan Rivera - .299 BA, 44 HR, 133 RBI
NL: Albert Pujols - .342 BA, 53 HR, 145 RBI

Cy Young
AL: Justin Verlander: 19-10, 3.34 ERA, 219 K
NL: Chris Carpenter (STL) 22-3, 2.05 ERA, 192 K

Rookie of the Year
AL: Brian Matusz: 14-7, 4.37 ERA, 143 K
NL: Jason Heyward: .277 BA, 24 HR, 90 RBI

Trevor Hoffman also picked up save 629, which increased his career saves lead.

I think that The Show's final results seem pretty accurate. The Phillies got hot down the stretch, the Cubs and Cardinals struggled in the playoffs, there was Red Sox magic, etc. I am not sure three teams will finish with 100-plus losses or that the Astros are truly that bad (though I guess it is possible). Do both Chris Carpenter and Juan Rivera have the stuff to put together career years? Heyward seems like a likely candidate for Rookie of the Year, and Pujols is usually pretty much a lock for MVP, even when his team does not win 102 games.

What is really interesting is that both simulations run by OS featured a one-game playoff between the Rays and Red Sox.


What do you think about The Show's simulated possibilities and outcomes?