Working the Waiver Wire: April 1

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  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on April 1, 2026 5:02 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: April 1, 2026

    After a terribly long, cold, then warm, then cold, then warm, then hot, then slightly cool winter, baseball is back and that means we’re back on the waiver wire beat.

    In between baseball ending and beginning, I play fantasy football and fantasy basketball, but neither can compare to the six month march of a fantasy baseball season. From Opening Night until September 27, there will be baseball played on all but three or four days. 162 games per team. 26 man rosters.

    And we have to be concerned about 450 or more players at any given time.

    So let’s hop into the waiver wire and see who sticks out this early in the season.

    *Note that all listed roster %’s are from Yahoo, at the time of the writing of this article. Almost all of our waiver wire recommendations are widely available across all major platforms, however.*

    Miguel Vargas – 1B/3B – White Sox – 18%

    Vargas was very quietly a top 15 fantasy third baseman in the 2025 season, with an 80-16-60-6-.234 line. Obviously, nothing leaps off the sheet there as a standout number, but he did have the seventh most runs at the position even though he was the only player on the Sox to score more than 57 on the season.

    The under-the-hood numbers tell us there is room for improvement as well. Vargas has always been elite at making contact and getting on base, but has struggled with poor batting averages and on-base percentages in the big leagues. Before 2025, he was never given a fair shake or a full time shot at playing, thanks to the depth and star power of the Dodgers, but contact skills, eye at the plate and ability to lift the ball have never diminished.

    Given the opportunity to man a spot in the lineup full time in 2025, Vargas had a mini breakout. He posted career bests across the board: OBP, SLG, OPS, wRC+, K%, barrel rate, hard hit rate, average exit velocity, LD/GB/FB rates, contact rate, zone contact rate, etc. Yet he had just a .234 batting average thanks to a .261 BABIP, despite an 82.5% contact rate, 8.1% swinging strike rate and a 17.6% strikeout rate. Vargas has the tools to hit .260 or better (he was a .300 hitter in the minor leagues) with 20 home runs and 10-15 stolen bases and a 140 to 150 combined runs and RBI. If shows just a little growth as he enters his peak years, he could produce a top-10 season.

    And he is readily available in over three-quarters of leagues when guys like Ernie Clement and Willi Castro are rostered in more leagues (multi-position eligibility be damned).

    Go pick up Vargas and reap the benefits of a top 15, at worst, 3B, and a top 25 corner infielder.

    Max Muncy – 3B – Dodgers – 38%

    Listen, I know he has injury problems and he’s never reached 600 plate appearances in a season, but when Muncy is healthy and in the lineup, he is an offensive force.

    He finished the 2025 season as the 17th most valuable fantasy third baseman even though he was one of just three in the top-38 with fewer than 400 plate appearances. He hit the 10th most home runs and had the sixth most RBI, with the THIRTY-EIGHTH MOST PLATE APPEARANCES.

    He should not be as readily available on the waiver wire as he is right now. He is going to hit for power (career SLG of .475), get on base (career OBP of .355) and produce extremely well in one of the most productive lineups in baseball.

    I don’t feel that I have to provide too much of a statistical breakdown for Muncy. You know what you get with him. And if he stays healthy (and I know that IF is doing some heavy carrying) he could put up a top-5 fantasy season at the position.

    So, uh, go grab him. I’m sure you have someone *cough* Jordan Lawlar, Noelvi Marte, Carlos Correa, Willi Castro, Caleb Durbin *cough* you could drop, to pick up and actual elite producer at the position.

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    April 1, 2026, 5:02 pm