What’s next? This is likely just the start for Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa

If the goal of the Rookie of the Year Award is to identify the future faces of the game, then the Baseball Writers’ Association of America did one hell of a job Monday.

In fairness, it wasn’t all that difficult. Kris Bryant thrust himself into the national spotlight back in March, when he obliterated pitchers in spring training. He lived up to that hype during the season, hitting .275/.369/.488 as the Chicago Cubs marched toward the playoffs. 

[Related: Cubs slugger Kris Bryant wins NL Rookie of the Year award]

Carlos Correa was in the same situation. While it took longer for him to receive the call, he made up for lost time with a dominant performance. The 20-year-old immediately became the Houston Astros’ best hitter, slashing .279/.345/.512 while playing one of the toughest defensive positions.

Bryant and Correa were hardly the only rookies to make a huge impact this season. It seemed that every other week there was news of another consensus top-10 prospect getting a call to the majors. While not every youngster thrived immediately, fans got a great look at the future stars of the game. 

The future looks bright. Winning the ROY Award is a great accomplishment, but, in the case of Bryant and Correa, this feels like the first of what should be many trophies throughout their promising careers.

This isn’t Angel Berroa winning the AL ROY in 2003, or Chris Coghlan coming away with the NL ROY in 2009. Bryant and Correa are the type of players you would expect to compete for the MVP Award in their respective leagues in the not too distant future. 

All of that, by the way, applies to Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. The 22-year-old may have just missed out on a first place finish in the AL, but that shouldn’t diminish his accomplishments. He was, at the very least, just as good as Correa this season. No one remembers who finished second in the ROY voting, but you get the sense Lindor could get his revenge by stealing an MVP Award from Correa in the coming years.

[Related: Astros shortstop Carlos Correa wins AL Rookie of the Year award]

Berroa and Coghlan were the exception, by the way. For the most part, the ROY winners go on to become some of the biggest names in the game. Just take a look at the last few years in each league. 

The NL looks pretty dominant. With the exception of Coghlan, all those other players are stars. deGrom and Fernandez should compete for future Cy Young awards, Harper will very likely win the NL MVP this season, Posey has already won an MVP award and Kimbrel is one of the most dominant relievers on his era. Coghlan may not be a face of the game, but he’s very likely going to be a 10-year veteran when his career is over. That’s not bad.

The AL list isn’t as strong, but it’s hard to fault some choices. Abreu and Trout are the clean winners here. Trout already has one MVP award, and should have won more, while Abreu’s rookie performance doesn’t seem like a fluke. Bailey, Feliz and Myers all looked like solid choices at the time, but injuries took hold. There’s still hope Myers develops into a strong player, too, so writing him off completely seems premature. Hellickson fooled everyone for another season before the league caught up to him.

For the most part, the ROY voting has done a great job identifying future stars. Bryant and Correa should have no problem living up to those expectations. 

[Related: Yogi Berra and Willie Mays to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom]

While Bryant and Correa (and Lindor) were the cream of the crop, it seems irresponsible not to mention guys like Noah Syndergaard, Miguel Sano, Carlos Rodon, Joc Pederson and Addison Russell. All of those players debuted this season, and could easily establish themselves as future superstars moving forward. Even that list isn’t comprehensive, as it excludes Kyle Schwarber, Michael Conforto, Matt Duffy, Jung-ho Kang and Randal Grichuk. Even the secondary list misses out on some major talent like … well, you get the point. If we actually made a comprehensive list, we would be here all day.

If 2015 showed us anything, it’s that the future of the game is in great hands. Bryant and Correa are already two of the best players around, and should only get better in time. On top of that, they’ll be challenged as some of the other players who debuted this season continue to grow and develop. 

The 2015 season produced one of the best rookies classes the game has ever seen. Based on what they’ve done so far, and what they should do moving forward, Bryant and Correa seem like the perfect choices to lead this group into the future.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik