Trying to assess this mess.
We are going to lump first base and DH together here. As with the catcher position, Brooklyn has a strong organizational stance with these positions. As a rule, we do not plan to waste resources on 1B/DH. That means we will not draft or trade for any 1B/DH prospects unless they are once and a generational types.
Granted this is the rule and there are always exceptions. When I say draft, I mainly mean using significant top picks. Often times after say round 4 or 5, the draft is pretty much spent of worthwhile players. If there is a bat that is cut and clear better then his piers at that point, we may snag him. Same with trading. While we won't specifically target 1B/DH prospects, sometimes they fall in your lap. If we are given a 1B/DH as an under valued throw in... we're going to take him. Also we may trade a spare part if we have playing time available that would benefit such a bat.
Our minor league playing time philosophy revolves around a rotational platoon. 1B and DH are combined to yield 3 players getting regular reps(playing two out of every 3 games) at each level. It's actually rare that we have enough 1B/DH to fill those slots. So we often use infielders and outfielders lost in their respective rotational platoons to fill in the gaps.
For these reasons, our 1B/DH future looks really weak. As we did with our last rebuild, 1B/DH will be the last two spots we fill when ready to go all in. They are the easiest spots to fill and you can often get a really, really good player at a discounted cost either in trades or free agency. That being said, we do have to fill out our lineup cards until then, so here is who we have....
Potential BBA Bats
Javier Garza (7/7/5/3/8 Talents) 26 L
Clarence Kirkpatrick (6/7/7/6/5 Talents) 25 R
Jose Carlos Gallegos (7/7/6/5/7 Talents) 24 L
Jose Garcia (6/6/8/6/7 Talents) 23 L
Cisco Martinez (7/7/5/3/9 Talents) 22 R
Jose Gallegos 18 L
This actually isn't a bad collection of players when you take a deeper look at splits. 5 of the 6 players have been acquired fairly recently. All of them were either throw ins, waiver claims, or minor trades. None will be all stars, but should provide a solid pipeline of BBA quality bats for the next 10 years or so.
The younger Gallegos figured to be the highest upside of the bunch. But he has lumped since the trade and in looking right now, just lumped again. We had him pegged as a future x player, but now he is sort of lumped his way into the rest of the group.
Garza was just acquired in a waiver claim from Madison. We are really excited to see him get a full time shot. In a short 161 AB sample spread across 3 seasons, Garza slashed a .391/.413/.689 line. Though he is not a power hitter, he is coming to a park that favors high contact, low strikeout bats.
JC Gallegos was acquired in a pre waiver wire trade with Montreal. He is off to a hot start with a 1.304 OPS this season. That would lead the Johnson league if he had a couple of more at bats.
All in all, it's not much to talk about. You just don't need to go crazy finding a great 1B/DH type player when you are not going to be good team anyway. Keep it cheap, don't exert a lot to acquire them, and view them as interchangeable pieces. If someone offers you anything of value for one of them... take it... and look for the next stopgag.
Organizational Filler
Kay Dietsch (4/3/1/4/6 Talents) 28 R
Jay Gamble (6/7/6/5/5 Talents) 21 R
John Gibbs (5/5/2/6/6 Talents) 21 L
Enrique Gomez (6/7/6/6/6 Talents) 23 R
Angel Gonzales (5/6/5/4/6 Talents) 24 L
Maaik Guerrero (5/4/4/7/6 Talents) 21 L
Scott Hoover (6/7/6/3/5 Talents) 23 R
Antonio Rodriguez (6/6/2/2/8 Talents) 24 L
George Woolridge (6/5/2/5/7 Talents) 21 S
