Also see: Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Rising

Fantasy baseball waivers and discarded fantasy baseball players can make or break a season. You may have adjusted your fantasy baseball cheat sheets over and over during spring training. If your team remains the same after opening day, though, you will probably have trouble competing in your rotisserie baseball league. When is it time to give up on your fantasy baseball sleepers? Which players are worth retaining? KFFL.com's Diamond Market series gives you the fantasy baseball tips and advice you need to sort through the masses quickly.

Key

Discard - Drop player (in most circumstances)

Stash - Hold player if roster space is available; consider dropping if trend continues

Hold - Do not drop player (in most circumstances)

Catchers

Ryan Doumit, Pittsburgh Pirates

"DL-oumit" returned home Tuesday, April 21, and will be out eight to 10 weeks with a right wrist fracture. You may be able to sneak him onto the waiver wire if you have no roster room in extremely shallow mixed leagues, but you're better off using one of those trusty IR spots on him. Too much offensive potential to simply discard; just remember he may become comfortable there.

Shallow mixed: Hold

Deep mixed: Hold

NL-only: Hold

Shortstops

Orlando Cabrera, Oakland Athletics

A .216 clip in his first 51 at-bats severely devalues the already declining O-Cab. His basepath rap sheet contains just two unsuccessful steal attempts; is Oaktown's conservative philosophy holding him back? He's typically a slow starter, and he's still solid enough of a player that in deep leagues any potential replacements wouldn't offer better long-term value.

Shallow mixed: Stash

Deep mixed: Hold

AL-only: Hold

Outfielders

Ryan Spilborghs, Colorado Rockies

The emergence of super-prospect Dexter Fowler and the dabbling of Ian Stewart in left field are invading Spilborghs' territory, but his inability to make contact isn't helping (14 K's in 48 at-bats). Spilborghs still has a slight edge over Seth Smith due to his versatility, but he was out of the starting lineup for two straight games before going 0-for-5 Tuesday, April 21.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Stash

NL-only: Hold

Starting pitchers

Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers

He's being too cute working for strikes, which has led to an 8.16 ERA and a crippling 1.74 WHIP through his first three starts. Parra's 1.06 groundball-to-flyball rate isn't large enough to balance out his control, which remains a glaring issue (5.65 BB/9). You knew walks would be a caveat with the promising lefty coming into 2009. Be more selective with his outings - if your team ratios are already in poor shape, keep him out of the lineup until he works things out.

Shallow mixed: Discard

Deep mixed: Stash

NL-only: Hold

Also see: Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market - Rising