Brett Taranto is in the last year of his contract with the Denver Brewers and can test the free agency market at the end of the season unless Denver can come to an agreement with him on an extension, and the 31-year old first baseman is certainly doing his best to make a case for a huge contract somewhere.
Meanwhile, although the reigning WPK champions, the Portland Wild Things, are showing signs of something of a championship hangover, they are getting excellent production from 24-year old left fielder Micah Harris, who hit 3 homers in a win against St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. The 1976 4th round draft pick was given 122 plate appearances at the big league level late last season in his major league debut and put up a slash line of .304/.347/.509 for 1.2 WAR. He is on pace for a nearly 4 WAR season this year and though he has been unheralded there are signs that the well-rounded and likeable player will exceed expectations. He has the defensive skills to be an elite left fielder, an excellent right fielder, and even a very capable center fielder and although his hit tool isn't top notch in any one area it also has no perceivable flaws. His biggest weakness, other than a propensity for nagging back tightness, is that although he is very speedy he has poor technique on the base paths and does not take full advantage of his natural gift.
Speaking of injury propensity, former Brewer third baseman Jake DiCesare is somewhat predictably not only off to a pretty good start with his new team, the El Paso Dawgs, but also once again experiencing injury problems.
Let's take a quick look at the current standings in the WPK:
