The Baby Faces of Baseball: the youth movement is here to stay

As the baseball season approaches the  two month mark, it seems as though a new age is before us. Sorry Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Julio Franco, the youth movement in baseball is here and it looks like it is here to stay

A quick glance of the standings as of May 22 shows that three of the youngest teams in baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks are arguably three of the best teams in baseball right now.

The Diamondbacks, whose success last season was shrugged off by most people as a fluke, have an average age of 27.8 years-old and an NL-best 28-18 record.

The Marlins, a team which has done remarkably well this year after trading away two of their best young players, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, are the youngest team in baseball with an average of 27.3 years old. However, they have an impressive 26-19 record, good for first in the NL East.

The Rays, perhaps due to the name and uniform change, are no longer the laughing stock of the AL East. Tied with the Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers as the second youngest team in the Majors, the Rays are owners of a 27-20 record, third best in the AL.

It seems that all three teams understand that youth is key to their team's success and survival.

The days of the management in Tampa Bay buying overpriced aging talent like its division counterparts in Boston and New York seems to be over.

Last month on April 18, Evan Longoria, the can't miss future of the Rays infield was signed to a six-year $17.5 million dollar deal, which could be worth upwards of $44.5 million over nine years.

The deal is unprecedented. Longoria, a top-notch prospect in the minors, had at the time of the signing played in a mere six big-league games. But the Rays are not the only team willing to invest huge amounts of money for their young talent.

The Rays also signed Scott Kazmir, their ace in the making, to a three-year $28.5 million deal.

Last week, Florida signed shortstop Hanley Ramirez to a club record setting deal. The 2006 Rookie of the Year  agreed to a six-year $70 million deal from a team which was infamous for the fire sales they went through in order to reduce their payroll after 1997 and 2003 World Series Championship seasons.

Arizona and Colorado have also signed some of their young talent to multi-year deals for millions of dollars.

Early last month the Diamondbacks signed young center fielder Chris Young to a five-year, $28 million deal, similar to the six-year, $31 million deal 23-year-old Rockies shortstop, Troy Tulowitzski signed.

Just prior to the season, the Milwaukee Brewers also extended the contracts of some of their best young Major League players, bu used a slightly different approach.

Prince Fielder, who hit 50 home runs and drove in 119 runs in 2007, was signed to a $670,000 contract. Cory Hart, who batted .295 with 24 home runs, signed to a $444,000. The reigning Rookie of the Year, Ryan Braun, on the other hand, had his contract renewed for $455,000 for 2008 before signing a eight year $45 million deal.