Each MLB roster has at least one player who can be identified as an integral piece of the club's long-term plans.
Whether you want to call them cornerstones or franchise building blocks, these are the players teams have penciled in to their spots on the roster for the foreseeable future.
So let's identify the players.
As we sought each team's most promising young building block, the following criteria helped narrow the search:
- Age: Since we're talking about "young" players, the first step was to establish an age range. We went with everyone who will be 27 or younger on Opening Day (March 26) this year.