The Decade of Diaper Dandies

For perspective on just how fat with young talent Major League Baseball is today, may we present to you one Dansby Swanson.

Arizona selected the Vanderbilt shortstop with the first pick of the 2015 draft. Swanson has done nothing to undermine that status during his brief stint in the Minors. Atlanta was over the moon about snagging him in a deal for Shelby Miller this past off-season and he is expected to anchor the Braves' infield into the 2020s.

Dansby Swanson is just the 69th best Major League prospect under 25 according to Baseball Prospectus.

That's no knock on Swanson. BP thinks the world of him. It's just that there are 68 other guys whose early profile suggests even more potential than him.

Take Twins shortstop Francisco Lindor. At age 21 he produced 3.3 wins in 99 games in 2015 while impressing with the leather. And he's just the 14th best prospect in MLB.

Or consider Addison Russell at #20. The Cubs rookie shortstop supplanted Starlin Castro last year and produced about two wins, or what an average starter contributes.  But not an average 21-year-old starter. In most years, Russell might have contended for the Rookie of the Year award. He didn't get even a single third place vote. And there are 19 prospects under 25 deemed better than him.

Kevin Kiermaier earned five wins for the Rays last season, mostly with his all-world glove. Now in his third stint through the league, his exploits with the leather in center field make him a Web Gem hog and the subject of Sports Illustrated features. And BP rates 55 young prospects ahead of him.

Trevor Rosenthal's not shedding any tears for Kiermaier. He's saved 93 games the last two spins around the sun, but because he's the ripe old age of 25, he's rated just 87th.

Consider that every one of these guys is already in the Majors. Almost all of the best under-25 prospects have already debuted in the Bigs, and most of them have drained their rookie status.

Consider also that this doesn't account for the phenoms at the top. Describing MIke Trout and Bryce Harper at this point amounts to gilding a lily, but the next group of players include Carlos Correa, a shortstop who smacked 22 dingers as an age-20 rookie; Manny Machado, already an 18-win third baseman; Gerrit Cole, the ace of the Pirates staff; Jose Fernandez, a Rookie of the Year who's back strong from TJ surgery; Nolan Arenado, a slick-fielding cornerman who led the Majors in 2015 with 42 home runs; and other young stars including Corey Seager, Mookie Betts, Xander Boegarts, Kris Bryant, Jose Altuve, Miguel Sano, Noah Syndergaard, Anthony Rendon and Yasiel Puig. What a haul.

That grouping could contain half a dozen Hall of Famers when it's all over but the shouting. But you won't hear the shouting for a long time because they're all younger than my marriage.

So here's the takeaway: forget all the bellyaching you hear about the game. It's a great time to be a baseball fan.