The 2015 playoffs: Plenty of young talent on display

So it looks like the kids are all right.

It appears the future of baseball - in terms of the on-field talent - is in pretty good hands with some of the young talent we have seen in these playoffs.

Here are just a few of the players and their current ages:

20 - Roberto Osuna (Blue Jays)

21 - Carlos Correa (Astros), Addison Russell (Cubs), Rougned Odor (Rangers), Corey Seager (Dodgers), Luis Severino (Yankees)

22 - Kyle Schwarber (Cubs), Javier Baez (Cubs), Michael Conforto (Mets), Greg Bird (Yankees), Dalton Pompey (Blue Jays), Keone Kela (Rangers), Lance McCullers (Astros)

23 - Kris Bryant (Cubs), Jorge Soler (Cubs), Joc Pederson (Dodgers), Noah Syndergaard (Mets), Delino DeShields Jr. (Rangers)

24 - Michael Wacha (Cardinals), Stephen Piscotty (Cardinals), Yaisel Puig (Dodgers), Steven Matz (Mets), Gregory Polanco (Pirates), Marcus Stroman (Blue Jays), Yordano Ventura (Royals), Martin Perez (Rangers)

25 - Starlin Castro (Cubs), Gerrit Cole (Pirates), Jose Altuve (Astros), Salvador Perez (Royals)

The Chicago Cubs certainly looked poised for a promising future. The team that won its series in four games with St. Louis last night features six players 25 or younger that got 200 or more plate appearances.

The Cubs hit a postseason-record nine homers in the last two games of that series. They got homers from Anthony Rizzo (26 years old), Castro, Bryant, Soler, Schwarber and Baez. It was fun to watch those kids bash the baseball.

As for the Orioles, they feature 11 players on their current 40-man roster who are 25 or younger as of today and 24 players who are 28 or younger:

22 - Jason Garcia, Dylan Bundy
23 - Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop
24 - Kevin Gausman, Christian Walker, Tim Berry
25 - Mychal Givens, Mike Wright, Rey Navarro, Junior Lake
26 - Jimmy Paredes, Tyler Wilson, Dariel Alvarez, T.J. McFarland
27 - Zach Britton, Chris Tillman, Jorge Rondon, Andy Wilkins
28 - Henry Urrutia, Steve Johnson, Oliver Drake, Gerardo Parra, Brian Matusz

All organizations seek young talent for many reasons. Cost is chief among them. Players earn basically around the major league minimum salary until they reach arbitration for the first time. For instance, Machado has played in 451 games over parts of four seasons with the club and just now he is arbitration-eligible for the first time. He is going to likely earn in the neighborhood of $6 million next season.

But having younger and lower-cost talent helps any club in the budget department, and can offset the bigger salaries on the roster. Younger players can bring energy and life to a clubhouse, and are sometimes players a team can build around. They could be players with a team for many, many years.

Any organization would want that.

The Orioles cannot exceed a team like the Cubs when it comes to young talent, but a nucleus of Machado, Schoop and Gausman - all 24 or under - is not a bad start. Hopefully a healthy Bundy and some others advance their careers in 2016 and join this list.

How important is young talent to a team and how are the Orioles doing in this regard?