Mark Feinsand, executive reporter: I know it might sound crazy to say this given that he plays in Tampa Bay, but I feel like Wander Franco is the guy. The hype around him has been crazy, he’s on a team that contends annually, and he has that superstar aura we look for in these guys. Now he just needs to stay healthy.

Andrew Simon, editor/writer/researcher: I’ll go with Julio Rodríguez. The talent is obviously there, the production is getting there, and if we’re considering star power, he also has the sort of magnetic personality that could make him one of the faces of the game.

David Adler, researcher/reporter: Bobby Witt Jr. And it won’t even take five years. I’m all in on him. Love the swing, love the tools, love everything.

J.P. Crawford, Seattle Mariners
The aforementioned established major leaguer, J.P. Crawford graduated as a prospect during the 2018 season. Known for his consistent presence on defensive highlight reels, Crawford’s glove made up the lion’s share of his value as a big leaguer. Coming into the 2022 season, however, Crawford’s offensive output had been on a three-year incline, netting wRC+ marks of 87, 95 and 103 over the past three seasons. That alone earned him a five-year extension.

While Crawford has always shown an above-average skill set when it comes to avoiding strikeouts and drawing walks, with rates near or better than the league average three years running, the best mark he had mustered in weighted on-base average (wOBA) was a meager .314. For his career to date before this season, his triple slash was a rather tepid .250/.331/.367. This year, Crawford is mashing to a much stronger .289/.368/.444 — good for 46 percent above the league average — with a wOBA of .360.

Being the first player born in a year to reach MLB usually portends some level of stardom or at least indicates a successful career ahead. For example, take a look at the past decade:

2002: ???
2001: Wander Franco
2000: Elvis Luciano
1999: Fernando Tatis Jr.
1998: Juan Soto
1997: Ozzie Albies
1996: Julio Urias
1995: Roberto Osuna
1994: Rougned Odor
1993: Jurickson Profar
1992: Bryce Harper

(If you’ve never heard of Elvis Luciano, that’s OK. He was an extreme outlier case involving the Rule 5 Draft.)

As such, it seems likely that the first 2002 baby to reach MLB will have a great chance to be a star someday, too. But we don’t need a 2002 DOB to snatch the title from Franco. We just need a player born after March 1, 2001. I’ve broken down the candidates into a few groups: