Ranking MLB's 10 Most Talented Young Cores
The Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks battled in the 2023 World Series, and given the strength of the young core on each of those teams, there's a decent chance of a rematch at some point in the next half-decade.
"Young core" is a vague term, both in terms of the age of the players and the quantity of players in the core, so let's get more specific:
- Young: Age-25 season or younger, meaning the player will not turn 26 before June 30, 2024.
- Core: Exactly four players, in honor of the New York Yankees' former "Core Four" of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.
Rankings are based loosely on the combined 2023-24 Baseball Reference WAR of each team's core four, but injuries (i.e., Atlanta's Spencer Strider is already done for the year, while guys like Cincinnati's Matt McLain and Cleveland's Gavin Williams have yet to make their 2024 debuts) and career production prior to last season also factored prominently into the mix.
For most teams in the top 10, there were more than four young players worthy of consideration. In those cases, additional players may be mentioned. However, each ranking is based solely on the four players listed at the top of that team's section.
Notably, we are not including prospects who have yet to make their MLB debuts.
Washington probably cracks the top 10 if we count both James Wood and Dylan Crews toward its core. Same goes for the Red Sox with Marcelo Mayer. And though Paul Skenes just got called up for the Pirates, let's give him a start or two before we consider including him as part of Pittsburgh's young core, since we're focused on established young MLB talent as opposed to potential stars who might be coming soon.
All clear?
Then let's dive into MLB's top 10 young cores.
Honorable Mentions
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Atlanta Braves (Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider, Jarred Kelenic, Bryce Elder)
Had we done this exercise in the preseason, Atlanta probably ranks in the top five. But with Strider done for the year and both Kelenic and Elder struggling to establish themselves as valuable assets this season, the young core isn't anywhere near as strong as it once seemed. (That said, Ronald Acuña Jr. is 26 and both Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley are in their age-27 seasons, so Atlanta isn't exactly nearing the end of its window as a contender. Those guys just don't meet the "young core" qualifications anymore.)
Boston Red Sox (Wilyer Abreu, Brayan Bello, Triston Casas, Ceddanne Rafaela)
A strong ABC trio in Abreu, Bello and Casas, but the lack of a solid fourth member keeps Boston outside the top 10. Perhaps either Rafaela or Vaughn Grissom will take a big step forward as the season progresses.
Detroit Tigers (Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, Reese Olson, Wenceel Pérez)
Greene has been great when healthy. Torkelson hasn't been homering this season, but he clubbed 31 last year. Olson has been impressive on the mound since making his debut last season. And Pérez's near-.300 batting average has been a pleasant surprise. But with both Colt Keith and Parker Meadows painfully underperforming, it just feels like something is lacking from this young core. The Tigers almost made the cut even without those two included, though.
Los Angeles Angels (Reid Detmers, Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, Logan O'Hoppe)
Add José Soriano, Jo Adell, Chase Silseth and Ben Joyce to the list, and the Angels do have a little something something percolating down there in last place in the AL West. Unfortunately, their constant state of paying Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon more than $75 million combined per year to spend most of the season on the IL is holding them back.
Pittsburgh Pirates (Jared Jones, Oneil Cruz, Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz)
Between Jones, Priester and now Paul Skenes, the future of Pittsburgh's starting rotation is quite bright. And with Oneil Cruz beginning to pick up where he left off prior to suffering that broken leg in April 2023, there's a solid core coming together in the lineup, too. Next season could be when the Pirates legitimately contend for the first time since 2015.
San Francisco Giants (Kyle Harrison, Patrick Bailey, Jung Hoo Lee, Marco Luciano)
Like the Red Sox, the Giants have a strong trio of young players in Harrison, Bailey and Lee, but a great big "patiently waiting" in the fourth spot, whether it's designated for Luciano, Luis Matos or Heliot Ramos.
Washington Nationals (CJ Abrams, Jacob Young, MacKenzie Gore, Luis García Jr.)
In addition to this quartet, Mitchell Parker has gotten out to an impressive start to his career in the rotation, Trey Lipscomb has been OK as the regular third baseman, Cade Cavalli might amount to something if he can ever get and stay healthy. And though he's struggling this season, Keibert Ruiz remains a solid long-term plan at catcher. Throw in top prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews, and the 2019 World Series champs may have reached the end of their rebuilding process.
10. St. Louis Cardinals
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The Core Four: SS Masyn Winn (22), 2B Nolan Gorman (24), CF Dylan Carlson (25), LHP Matthew Liberatore (24)
St. Louis has one of the oldest pitching staffs in baseball, anchored by five starters in their age-33 or older season. Moreover, the two biggest names in the Cardinals' lineup—Paul Goldschmidt (36) and Nolan Arenado (33)—are much closer to the end of their careers than the beginning.
Still, they do have quite the collection of young hitters who could be the collective face of this franchise for years to come.
Though most of them have struggled at the dish in 2024, 10 of the 17 Cardinals with at least one plate appearance this season are 25 or younger. So is Liberatore, who is doing a fine job in what has largely been a middle-relief role this season. He should be a full-time member of the starting rotation next season, if not sooner.
The star of the bunch is Winn, who has been wizard-like at shortstop and serviceable at the plate. He's still waiting on his first home run of the season, but he had 18 at Triple-A Memphis in 2023 and should start providing some pop soon.
Carlson just made his season debut on Sunday after a shoulder injury, but he could play a big role in pacing the Cardinals back above .500 if he can get back to hitting like he did in 2021. (As long as he hits better than Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II did before getting sent back to the minors, it'll be improvement for the team.)
Gorman has floundered thus far, but he homered at a 162-game pace of 37 last season and could get back on track at a moment's notice.
9. New York Yankees
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The Core Four: OF Juan Soto (25), UTIL Oswaldo Cabrera (25), SS Anthony Volpe (23), OF Jasson Domínguez (21)
Whether Soto is actually part of New York's long-term core remains to be seen, as he is slated for free agency and a boatload of money this coming winter. For this season, though, he has been worth everything the Yankees gave up to acquire him, putting together an MVP-caliber campaign while carrying this offense.
Both Cabrera and Volpe got out to sensational starts to the season before cooling off in recent weeks. They remain near-everyday fixtures in the lineup, though, with the latter providing quite a bit of value both on defense and on the basepaths.
Domínguez is likely still a month or two away from returning from Tommy John surgery, but he made one hell of a first impression last fall with four home runs in just eight games played as a September call-up. Where he'll fit in the mix once available remains to be seen, but he is a big part of this franchise's future plans.
And watch out for Clayton Beeter. We could have included him instead of Domínguez since he pitched one inning for the Yankees early in the year, but let's wait before calling him part of the core here.
However, the 25-year-old was one of the candidates to take Gerrit Cole's spot in the rotation when he got hurt, and he has been lethal in Triple-A this season, averaging 13.2 K/9 with a sub-3.00 ERA. If he ever gets his walks under control, he could be special.
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8. Milwaukee Brewers
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The Core Four: 2B Brice Turang (24), 3B Joey Ortiz (25), OF Jackson Chourio (20), OF Sal Frelick (24)
Not much worth mentioning for Milwaukee on the pitching side of the equation. The only candidates are Abner Uribe, DL Hall and Tobias Myers, each of whom has a 2024 ERA north of 6.00.
Among position players, though, there's all sorts of intrigue for the Brew Crew.
In addition to the four listed above, they have recently promoted IF Tyler Black who could be a major addition to the lineup, OF Joey Wiemer who got demoted after a rough start to the year and OF Garrett Mitchell who was great when healthy but missed most of last season with a torn labrum and has yet to play this season due to a broken hand. Add 26-year-old catcher William Contreras to the mix, and they've got one heck of a deep young core to build around.
Of the bunch, Turang is the most well-established, out to an outstanding start to this season after posting a 1.6 bWAR as a rookie in 2023. He's not a power hitter by any means, but he's already one of the most valuable second basemen in the game today.
Ortiz has quickly become one of Milwaukee's better hitters after coming over from Baltimore in the Corbin Burnes trade. He has been splitting time with Oliver Dunn at third base, but Ortiz has clearly been the better hitter of the two. His glove at the hot corner hasn't been great, but he'll likely become the primary third baseman sooner rather than later.
With both Chourio and Frelick, we're still waiting on some of that potential to pay off, but there have been moments of greatness from each of the former top prospects.
Chourio has four home runs early on and might be on his way to the 24th case of a player hitting at least 20 home runs in his age-20 or younger season. The only ones to do so in the past 45 years were Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper (twice), Mike Trout, Carlos Correa, Juan Soto (twice), Ronald Acuña Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr.
7. Texas Rangers
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The Core Four: OF Evan Carter (21), OF Wyatt Langford (22), OF Leody Taveras (25), UTIL Ezequiel Duran (24)
Quite the one-two punch of AL Rookie of the Year candidates headlining Texas' young core.
Carter is already quite good, and Langford had one heck of a spring training before floundering a bit to start the regular season and recently landing on the IL with a hamstring strain. They'll both qualify as part of the Rangers' young core (unless they get traded) for another three years, too. No matter how many times we revamp this article between now and the end of 2027, Texas should feature prominently.
The rest of the core is where things get a bit iffy for the Rangers, though.
Taveras broke out in a big way last year in becoming the primary center fielder, but he has regressed considerably at the dish while getting cemented at the bottom of the lineup. The Rangers have managed to lead the AL West in scoring in spite of his shortcomings, though. It's just not quite the potent 1 through 9 lineup they had for most of last season.
Duran is in a similar boat. As recently as Tuesday morning, he was slugging .264 one year after batting .276. Making sure to get him somewhere in the lineup is nowhere near the goal it was in 2023, as he has become the backup everything. That's still a valuable role, though, especially with both Josh Jung and Justin Foscue out indefinitely.
6. Cleveland Guardians
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The Core Four: 2B Andrés Giménez (25), RHP Tanner Bibee (25), LHP Logan Allen (25), RHP Gavin Williams (24)
Cleveland spent much of 2023 showcasing its arsenal of young arms.
Bibee, Allen and Williams all made their MLB debuts last season, making a combined total of 65 starts. Bibee did so with a sub-3.00 ERA, while Allen and Williams were both sub-4.00. All three struck out close to one batter per inning.
Year No. 2, however, hasn't gone nearly as well.
Bibee has a 4.91 ERA through eight starts. Allen is at 6.41 with a considerably lower strikeout rate. And Williams has yet to make his season debut after an elbow injury suffered during spring training.
Still, we saw enough from them last season to be enthused about the future of this rotation. The Guardians have also added a new rookie to the mix, with RHP Cade Smith (25) thriving in the middle innings to the tune of a 2.70 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 13.0 K/9. If they didn't already have five other frequently used relievers with a sub-3.00 ERA for the year, he'd be getting way more opportunities for holds in high-leverage situations.
But the brightest star here is Giménez, who was worth a combined 12.7 bWAR over the previous two seasons with an elite glove and a solid bat for a middle infielder. The Guardians locked him in on a seven-year, $106.5 million deal just before the start of last season, which is already looking like a bargain for one of the best second basemen in the big leagues today.
What could push Cleveland comfortably into the top five here is if any of Brayan Rocchio (23), Bo Naylor (24), Gabriel Arias (24) or Tyler Freeman (25) start to hit with any sort of regularity. All four have been semi-regulars in the starting lineup, but all four entered Thursday with an OPS of .620 or worse.
Kind of incredible Cleveland has planted itself atop the AL Central even with all those young bats (and arms) struggling.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks
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The Core Four: OF Corbin Carroll (23), SS Geraldo Perdomo (24), C Gabriel Moreno (24), RHP Brandon Pfaadt (25)
Carroll has struggled through the first 20 percent of the season, with just two home runs and a Mendoza-ish batting average. But we all know from last year what the Diamondbacks center fielder is capable of once he gets into a groove. He had 25 home runs and 54 stolen bases in 2023, not only winning NL ROY but also placing fifth in the NL MVP vote. At some point, he'll get back to that, right?
Joining Carroll at the 2023 All-Star Game was Perdomo, who has been on the IL for more than a month with a knee injury. He broke out in a huge way last season, going from a .547 OPS as a near-everyday shortstop in 2022 to a .712 OPS in that same capacity in 2023. He was definitely more productive in the first half than the second half, but his overall impact was promising.
Moreno had one heck of a 2023 season, too, coming over from Toronto in the Daulton Varsho trade and immediately becoming Arizona's primary catcher and a Gold Glove recipient. Despite only playing in 111 games, he had a 4.3 bWAR that tied with Adley Rutschman for best among catchers. He hasn't been that valuable this season, but he's still solid.
And then there's Pfaadt, who came on strong during Arizona's run to the World Series and has been respectable through his first seven starts. His 4.61 ERA isn't great, but the 3.28 FIP paints a much better picture of what will be a key member of this rotation for at least the next half-decade.
Beyond that quartet, Arizona also has IF Blaze Alexander (25), who has been impressive in a semi-regular role while Perdomo recovers. The D-backs also have Jordan Lawlar (21) as one of the top prospects in baseball.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
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The Core Four: RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (25), RHP Bobby Miller (25), OF Andy Pages (23), RHP Gavin Stone (25)
Had we enforced a "must be on the active roster" criterion, the Dodgers wouldn't have had enough players to make a core four. Not only is Miller currently on the IL, but he also joined Brusdar Graterol and Emmet Sheehan there, who have been out all season.
When healthy, though, Miller was a budding ace, Graterol was cementing himself as one of the most valuable relievers in the majors, and Sheehan was mercurial-but-occasionally-unhittable. All three should be key fixtures on the mound for the Dodgers for the next few years.
As should Yamamoto and Stone.
The former had a rocky first start to his MLB career, but he has gone at least five scoreless innings in four of his last seven outings. He has been even more of a strikeout artist than he was over the past seven seasons in Japan and is on the short list of viable candidates for NL ROY—if not the NL Cy Young. And the latter has a 2.10 ERA over his last five starts, including shutting down Atlanta as part of that marquee series sweep.
Pages is the kicker, though.
He was banged up last year, but he has reemerged as the phenom who was mashing baseballs in the minors from 2019-22. If you include what he did in spring training and what he did for a couple weeks in Triple-A to start the season, he has an OPS well north of 1.000 in 2024, quickly becoming maybe the second-most valuable outfielder in this loaded roster.
3. Seattle Mariners
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The Core Four: OF Julio Rodríguez (23), RHP Bryce Miller (25), Andrés Muñoz (25), RHP Bryan Woo (24)
For these top three teams, not only is the core quartet strong, but it was also painful to leave multiple players off the list.
In Seattle's case, those players were RHP Emerson Hancock (25) and RHP Gregory Santos (24). The former was the No. 6 pick in the 2020 draft who ended April on a streak of four consecutive quality starts. The latter was traded for after a strong 2023 season in the White Sox bullpen, but he has yet to make his Mariners debut because of a lat injury.
But who are you removing to make room for either of them?
Certainly not Rodríguez, who became the young face of this franchise about as quickly as Ken Griffey Jr. did once upon a time. Like Corbin Carroll in Arizona, he has gotten out to a rough start to the current campaign, but he remains one of the brightest stars in all of baseball.
You're not removing Miller, who has been almost unhittable in his second season in the big leagues. He has repeatedly shut down quality foes, including going seven shutout innings at Milwaukee, six one-hit innings against the Reds and seven innings with just two hits and 10 strikeouts against Atlanta.
Muñoz isn't getting the boot, either, boasting a career ERA of 2.80 in five seasons and becoming Seattle's primary closer last fall.
You could maybe make the case for Hancock replacing Woo, but Woo had a 3.68 ERA in his final 17 starts of last season and has a line of 11.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 17 K in his three starts at Triple-A Tacoma while rehabbing an elbow injury. He may well be taking Hancock's spot in the rotation once he's cleared to return.
2. Cincinnati Reds
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The Core Four: SS Elly De La Cruz (22), LHP Andrew Abbott (24), RHP Hunter Greene (24), IF Matt McLain (24)
No McLain yet in 2024 as he recovers from labrum surgery, but he made quite the first impression last season, batting .290/.357/.507 with 162-game paces of 29 home runs and 25 stolen bases. Had he done it for 162 games as opposed to 89, he would have given Corbin Carroll more of a challenge for NL ROY.
In McLain's stead, De La Cruz has become the sensation we were promised when he arrived last season. He had moments of brilliance as a rookie, but he wasn't consistently productive. Now, his OPS has skyrocketed from .710 to nearly .900, and he's stealing bases like there's no tomorrow. He is a legitimate threat to win NL MVP if he stays healthy.
How about the young pitchers, though?
Cincinnati's rotation often couldn't buy an out last season, but Abbott and Greene each have an ERA just north of 3.00—while 26-year-olds Graham Ashcraft and Nick Lodolo have also thrived in their turns through the rotation.
Greene's strikeout prowess has been well-established for several years, and Abbott now has a career ERA of 3.73 and is beginning to stake his claim as one of the 10-15 best left-handed starters in the bigs today.
Beyond the core four, the Reds also have young hitters Noelvi Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but the former is serving an 80-game PED suspension while the latter has yet to find his swing this season and recently landed on the IL with a broken wrist.
1. Baltimore Orioles
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The Core Four: IF Gunnar Henderson (22), OF Colton Cowser (24), RHP Grayson Rodriguez (24), IF Jordan Westburg (25)
Prior to landing on the IL with shoulder inflammation, Rodriguez had gone at least 5.2 innings and allowed two or fewer runs in five of his first six starts of the season, picking up right where he left off in the second half of 2023.
Had it not been for the acquisition of a Cy Young winner in Corbin Burnes, Rodriguez would have been the O's Opening Day starter.
But the greater allure here is the young hitters.
Fresh off winning AL Rookie of the Year, Henderson has his sights set on a possible MVP trophy, reaching 10 home runs before the end of April. At this time last year, he was batting around .170 before turning a corner and posting an .849 OPS over his final 117 games. Save for Mookie Betts, no one has been better over the past 365 days.
Cowser's numbers are nearly identical to Henderson's, albeit in about 50 fewer plate appearances, because it took a couple of weeks for him to become a staple in the starting lineup. He hit just .115 during his brief time in the majors last summer, but he was MLB's breakout star of April.
And with six home runs, four stolen bases and an .835 OPS, Westburg isn't exactly chopped liver bouncing between second base and third base. He showcased plenty of slugging potential in the minors before hitting a meager three home runs in 228 MLB plate appearances in 2023. That power has arrived, though, and he has been a key part of Baltimore leading the majors in home runs so far.
Rookies Heston Kjerstad and Jackson Holliday also have potential for greatness, though we're still waiting for it to translate to the majors for both. If either one figures it out this season, finding outs in this lineup becomes that much more difficult.
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