Working the Waiver Wire: August 13th

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  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on August 13, 2025 3:04 am by Anthony Kates | Published: August 13, 2025

    The season is flying by us, with the All Star break now a month behind us and the trade deadline two weeks ago, but every pick up still matters. Value can be found every single day on the waiver wire, be it a post-hype sleeper breaking out in a new uniform or an aging power hitter showing us he still has it, you can find some league winners if you look carefully.

    Andrew Vaughn – 1B – MIL – 52% rostered (Yahoo)

    I don’t even know how to really explain the difference between Chicago (White Sox) Andrew Vaughn and Milwaukee (Brewers) Andrew Vaughn. He’s hit more home runs in less plate appearances in Milwaukee even though he has a worse fly ball rate.

    There’s really only been like three big changes since he left the White Sox and joined the Brewers: he’s hitting the ball hard more often, he’s chasing significantly less (like 10 full points less) and he’s swinging far less. This has resulted in a career high walk rate (10.4%), the lowest strikeout rate of his career (13.2%, five full percentage points lower than 2022) and the best batting average of his career, buoyed by the best BABIP of his career (.352 and .347, respectively).

    Chasing less and swinging less usually results in seeing better pitches and more pitches in the zone, yet he’s seeing fewer pitches in the zone, but far more fastballs than before. Since switching teams, he has found far more success against every pitch, with a positive return on six of eight pitch types. Since joining Milwaukee, he has been one of the 15 best offensive producers in the league, driving in the second most runners, with the sixth best batting average and third highest wRC+, tied with Shohei Ohtani.

    If you need offensive production at 1B, corner infield or utility, you can add him in all league sizes. With how the Brewers are playing and producing on offense at the moment, the more pieces you roster, the better your team will be off.

    Giancarlo Stanton – OF – NYY – 44%

    I think it is pretty safe to say that injuries have cost us from celebrating Stanton hitting his 550th home run this season. He just hit his 12th home run this season, in 157 plate appearances, which is the 442nd of his career, but he has had 500 or more plate appearances in only seven of his 15 full MLB seasons and more than 504 in just five of those seven seasons. If we just put him at 37 home runs in every year he failed to reach 500 plate appearances, he’d be somewhere around 550 home runs at this point of his career. As it is, he’s hit 442 home runs while hitting more than 38 home runs only one time in his career, though he has hit 22 or more in a season in 13 of his 15 full seasons (2019 when he missed 140 games and this season are the only two he hasn’t….and he could do that this year).

    When Stanton is healthy, like he is now, he needs to be in fantasy lineups. Even through all of his injuries, his power has never diminished. If he qualified, his average exit velocity (avgEV), hard-hit rate, barrel rate and bat speed would all qualify in the 90th percentile or higher, with his avgEV and barrel rate in the 98th percentile or better. He’s got his highest batting average since 2017 and his walk rate is back up over 10%, so he’s getting on base at a solid rate and has decent counting stats to boot.

    If you need power and you start five outfielders or you are in a deep league, then you need to pick up Stanton. If you can tolerate poor batting averages and the nights he goes oh-for-five with four strikeouts, the power and counting stats will more than make up for it.

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    August 13, 2025, 3:04 am