By Quinton Miles

Earlier this morning, Take Two officially confirmed reports of their deal with Major League Baseball. The agreement, which will begin in 2006, will make Take Two the only third party publisher that is allowed to produce baseball games for consoles and the PC with real MLB players, teams, ballparks and clubs. It also includes rights to the minor league systems and MLB.com’s online content.

“The baseball video game market has been underdeveloped and 2K Sports has the product plan and talent to change that in next generation video game hardware,” said John Olshan, the MLBPA’s Category Director for Interactive Games. “For the first time, we will be positioned to take advantage of the entire baseball, hot stove and holiday seasons with an outstanding partner who is committed to giving baseball video games the product development, marketing and distribution required to bring sales in line with the immense popularity of Major League Baseball.”

In addition to confirming last week’s deal, the company also announced that New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has been signed on to become the spokesperson of their 2K Sports baseball titles.

“I’m excited to be partnering with an industry leader like Take-Two and I look forward to working together to take the video game experience to the next level for baseball fans,” said Derek Jeter.

One more noteworthy clause in the agreement blocks all other third-party publishers from hooking up with console manufacturers, meaning that earlier reports of EA hooking up with either Nintendo or Microsoft were put to bed fast. MyGamer will have more announcements on the 2K Sports lineup as they are revealed so stay tuned.