I think all the player pics are simply the MLB pressbox photos from spring of 2008. That's why you see a lot of good new ones (Soto, Fontenot) but some are outdated (Harden). I would bet even Manny has his Bosox hat?
One touch that is cool though is when the players come up to hit and you see their mug shot in the game. They do a good job of showing the team's logo in the background of the mug shot, so it helps a little bit. Not as good as the other game does in photoshopping the pressbox photos, but still, it helps at least a little bit.
But to each his/her own. So many people have nitpicked this game to death after screenshots and now some preliminary beta videos. It's pretty amazing how much hate is out there for 2K and this game.