Working the Waiver Wire: Trade Deadline Edition

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  • By Paul Williamson

    Last Updated on August 4, 2026 4:53 pm by Paul Williamson | Published: August 4, 2026

    The trade deadline reshuffled the deck for a lot of rosters and that has had a big impact on the fantasy landscape.

    Some players gained value based on where they went while others value increased simply by moves that were not made.

    Let’s dive into some player’s whose value has increased after the deadline and are still available in most Yahoo leagues.

    Luke Weaver – RP – PIT – 27%

    His roster% is rising fast and hopefully you listened to me in my Call to the ‘Pen prior to the deadline and you would already have him on your rosters.

    Gregory Soto had his struggles locking down the ninth inning and Mason Montgomery just has not gotten the walks under control while he sill has displayed amazing swing and miss.

    Weaver induces chase (34.2% O-Sw%), misses bats (14.5% swinging strike rate), has improved his ground ball rate this year to  43.1% and has induced two-ply contact with ah 34.2% hard-hit rate.

    He has ridden those metrics to a great 2026 so far with a 1.84 ERA and 0.82 WHIP locking it down for the Mets in late innings all year.

    Now he gets a chance to close for a contender.

    Grant Taylor – RP – CHW -28%

    Sometimes a player’s value is aided at the deadline based on moves that were not made and the White Sox not going out and adding a big bullpen arm is great for Taylor.

    No, they have not quite handed the ninth to him FULLY, but the writing is on the wall as he has all the makings of a legit closer and should, at the very least, get most of the save chances for a contending White Sox squad.

    He owns a 2.40 ERA (2.32 xERA), a 33.3% K%, 8,0% BB% and 1.03 WHIP. A ground ball rate of 48.5% and SwStr% of 12.5% are good numbers for a closer and Taylor has been banging down the door to be the closer all year.

    Now is the time.

    Dustin May – SP – MIL – 25%

    Dustin May goes from the Cards to the Brewers as he was already a solid add prior to the trade.

    But a World Series contending ball club and a pitchers park to call home pushes him into ‘must-add’ territory.

    He had been on quite the run over his last five starts with a 2.92 ERA, (2.41 FIP) and 25.9% K%,

    And the team has demoted Brandon Sproat, opening up space for him.

    On the  year he has a 3.14 FIP, 23.1% K%, 7.6% BB%, while inducing a 6.4% barrel rate.

    May has relied more on his cut fastball this year while it has over 2 MPH more velocity on it as most of his arsenal has at least a tick added. He has introduced a curveball that has a decent 28.1% whiff rate on it and his sweeper whiff rate is now up to 30.7%.

    The Brewers call American Family Field home and it is ranked 26th per Statcast park factors. And the Brewers have turned into a great pitching factory as we see in the breakouts of Kyle Harrison and Logan Henderson this year and they got the best out of Freddy Peralta.

    George Lombard Jr. – NYY – 2B, 3B, SS – 22%


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    August 4, 2026, 4:53 pm