Judges to be a wild aster (5)
I believe the answer is:
rates
'judges' is the definition.
(rating is a kind of judging)
'a wild aster' is the wordplay.
'a wild' indicates an anagram.
'aster' is an anagram of 'RATES'.
'to be' is the link.
(Other definitions for rates that I've seen before include "Stare (anag.)" , "degrees" , "Property-based source of local revenue" , "lectures" , "Esteems, values" .)