MLB All-Under-25 Team: Julio Rodríguez, Corbin Carroll, Bobby Witt Jr., and more

Juan Soto was once the youngest player in the majors, the youngest in Nationals history to hit a home run, the youngest in National League history with a 20-homer season, the youngest with a three-homer World Series game, the youngest to steal three bases in a game, the youngest NL batting champ, the youngest with a $30 million salary and the youngest to homer at Yankee Stadium — his new baseball home (for now) — since teenage Ken Griffey Jr.

But Soto, 25, has finally aged out of something.

That’s right. The Athletic’s All-Under-25 Team.

This third annual celebration of baseball’s young stars has become one of my favorite projects each winter. Below, you’ll find what I believe to be the best possible roster of big leaguers 24 and under for 2024. To be eligible for the All-Under-25 Team, players must be 24 or younger on Opening Day (March 28) and must already have appeared in an MLB game. They may be selected at any position they played in their most recent MLB season. In making roster decisions, I weighed previous MLB production, projections and expected role for this season.

2023 MLB All-Under-25 team
2022 MLB All-Under-25 team

Catcher

Gabriel Moreno won a Gold Glove and batted .284 with a .747 OPS last season, but he saved his best for October. He homered off Corbin Burnes in his first postseason game, took Clayton Kershaw deep in Game 1 of the NLDS, finished Arizona’s four-homer inning against Lance Lynn later that series, and then homered again off Jordan Montgomery in Game 2 of the World Series.

Honorable mention: Bo Naylor, Guardians; Logan O’Hoppe, Angels; Francisco Alvarez, Mets; Patrick Bailey, Giants; Henry Davis, Pirates

Infield

With Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the All-Under-25 Team’s first baseman the past two years, aging out before Opening Day, Triston Casas slides in to start, beating out the rest of a strong class of young first basemen. Casas’ blend of patience and power was on display in Boston last season, as he slashed .263/.367/.490 with 24 homers and an elite 13.9 percent walk rate to finish third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

At the other corner infield spot is the unanimous winner of that award: Gunnar Henderson, whom I’d bravely rostered as the 2023 All-Under-25 Team’s utility infielder despite just a 34-game sample in the majors. Henderson started last season slowly, with a .702 OPS through May, then had an .856 OPS the rest of the way. His 28 homers tied Cal Ripken Jr.’s Orioles record for homers as a rookie, and one was a moonshot that traveled an estimated 462 feet — one of the longest ever to land on Eutaw Street at Camden Yards.

Bobby Witt Jr. was this team’s third baseman last year and now moves to shortstop. He is simply one of the most gifted men in today’s game, which is why the Royals just guaranteed him $288.7…