For more Fantasy baseball insights, and to keep up with all the latest news, roster trends, and more throughout the season, subscribe to Fantasy Baseball Today now on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. You can find us on YouTube now, with full episodes and clips available every Monday through Friday.

"Who can I drop?" is one of the most pressing, yet difficult, questions to answer this time of year. It's dependent on factors that aren't so easily relayed to an "expert" such as myself.

The depth of your league, the particulars of your scoring system, the caliber of players already on the waiver wire, the add/drop behaviors of your opponents, your own dedication to monitoring the waiver wire, and your own aversion to risk ... these are all pertinent details for forming a precise answer (ranked roughly by order of importance).

Yet at this time of year when everything is new and unknown, and new breakout candidates are emerging seemingly everyday, the urgency to free up another spot is real. How can you be sure you're not being stupid about it?

I've already written a column offering general guidelines for this early-season dilemma, and I dare say it's worth the read. Still, specifics would make things easier, and who doesn't want easier?

With that in mind, I've put together my "do not drop" list: players for which the investment is too great or the potential rewards too high for you to entertain the thought of dropping them. It still varies by format, of course, but to keep the list of from becoming unwieldy, I've allowed myself just one distinction: Players who shouldn't be dropped in leagues that use a standard Rotisserie lineup — meaning 14 total hitters instead of the Head-to-Head standard of nine — are denoted by italics.

Please understand that I'm not suggesting the players left off this list are ones you should drop for the next flavor-of-the-week type. You'll have to make that determination for yourself. I'm merely acknowledging there may be a scenario in which dropping them is defensible.

But now for the ones for which it isn't: 

Catcher

  1. J.T. Realmuto, PHI
  2. Gary Sanchez, NYY
  3. Yasmani Grandal, MIL
  4. Willson Contreras, CHC
  5. Wilson Ramos, NYM
  6. Yadier Molina, STL
  7. Buster Posey, SF
  8. Danny Jansen, TOR 

First base

  1. Paul Goldschmidt, STL
  2. Freddie Freeman, ATL
  3. Anthony Rizzo, CHC
  4. Cody Bellinger, LAD
  5. Rhys Hoskins, PHI
  6. Joey Votto, CIN
  7. Matt Carpenter, STL
  8. Jose Abreu, CHW
  9. Jesus Aguilar, MIL
  10. Pete Alonso, NYM
  11. Carlos Santana, CLE
  12. Max Muncy, LAD
  13. Edwin Encarnacion, SEA
  14. Joey Gallo, TEX
  15. Jurickson Profar, OAK
  16. Luke Voit, NYY 

Second base

  1. Jose Altuve, HOU
  2. Javier Baez, CHC
  3. Whit Merrifield, KC
  4. Ozzie Albies, ATL
  5. Gleyber Torres, NYY
  6. Travis Shaw, MIL
  7. Daniel Murphy, COL
  8. Robinson Cano, NYM
  9. Dee Gordon, SEA
  10. Mike Moustakas, MIL
  11. Yoan Moncada, CHW
  12. Brian Dozier, WAS
  13. Jurickson Profar, OAK
  14. Jose Peraza, CIN
  15. Jonathan Villar, BAL
  16. Rougned Odor, TEX  

Third base

  1. Jose Ramirez, CLE
  2. Nolan Arenado, COL
  3. Alex Bregman, HOU
  4. Manny Machado, SD
  5. Anthony Rendon, WAS
  6. Javier Baez, CHC
  7. Kris Bryant, CHC
  8. Matt Carpenter, STL
  9. Vladimir Guerrero, TOR
  10. Eugenio Suarez, CIN
  11. Justin Turner, LAD
  12. Matt Chapman, OAK
  13. Travis Shaw, MIL
  14. Max Muncy, LAD
  15. Josh Donaldson, ATL
  16. Mike Moustakas, MIL
  17. Yoan Moncada, CHW    
  18. Maikel Franco, PHI
  19. Miguel Andujar, NYY
  20. Wil Myers, SD
  21. Jurickson Profar, OAK

Shortstop

  1. Alex Bregman, HOU
  2. Manny Machado, SD
  3. Francisco Lindor, CLE
  4. Trevor Story, COL
  5. Javier Baez, CHC
  6. Trea Turner, WAS
  7. Carlos Correa, HOU
  8. Xander Bogaerts, BOS
  9. Corey Seager, LAD
  10. Adalberto Mondesi, KC
  11. Gleyber Torres, NYY
  12. Jean Segura, PHI
  13. Fernando Tatis, SD
  14. Jurickson Profar, OAK
  15. Jose Peraza, CIN 

Outfield

  1. Mike Trout, LAA
  2. Mookie Betts, BOS
  3. J.D. Martinez, BOS
  4. Christian Yelich, MIL
  5. Bryce Harper, PHI
  6. Ronald Acuna, ATL
  7. Aaron Judge, NYY
  8. Charlie Blackmon, COL
  9. Juan Soto, WAS
  10. Cody Bellinger, LAD
  11. Giancarlo Stanton, NYY
  12. Andrew Benintendi, BOS
  13. Kris Bryant, CHC
  14. Whit Merrifield, KC
  15. Rhys Hoskins, PHI
  16. George Springer, HOU
  17. Starling Marte, PIT
  18. Tommy Pham, TB
  19. Lorenzo Cain, MIL
  20. Michael Brantley, HOU
  21. A.J. Pollock, LAD
  22. Yasiel Puig, CIN
  23. Aaron Hicks, NYY
  24. Mitch Haniger, SEA
  25. Eloy Jimenez, CHW
  26. Nicholas Castellanos, DET
  27. Eddie Rosario, MIN
  28. Michael Conforto, NYM
  29. David Dahl, COL
  30. Dee Gordon, SEA
  31. Victor Robles, WAS
  32. Domingo Santana, SEA
  33. Andrew McCutchen, PHI
  34. Marcell Ozuna, STL
  35. David Peralta, ARI
  36. Joey Gallo, TEX
  37. Wil Myers, SD
  38. Stephen Piscotty, OAK
  39. Mallex Smith, SEA
  40. Byron Buxton, MIN  

Designated hitter

  1. Khris Davis, OAK
  2. Nelson Cruz, MIN

Starting pitcher

  1. Max Scherzer, WAS
  2. Jacob deGrom, NYM
  3. Corey Kluber, CLE
  4. Justin Verlander, HOU
  5. Trevor Bauer, CLE
  6. Aaron Nola, PHI
  7. Blake Snell, TB
  8. Gerrit Cole, HOU
  9. Chris Sale, BOS
  10. Noah Syndergaard, NYM
  11. Carlos Carrasco, CLE
  12. Patrick Corbin, WAS
  13. Zack Greinke, ARI
  14. Walker Buehler, LAD
  15. James Paxton, NYY
  16. Stephen Strasburg, WAS
  17. German Marquez, COL
  18. Clayton Kershaw, LAD
  19. Jose Berrios, MIN
  20. Jack Flaherty, STL
  21. Chris Archer, PIT
  22. Jameson Taillon, PIT
  23. Madison Bumgarner, SF
  24. David Price, BOS
  25. Luis Castillo, CIN
  26. Zack Wheeler, NYM
  27. Mike Foltynewicz, ATL
  28. Masahiro Tanaka, NYY
  29. Charlie Morton, TB
  30. Mike Clevinger, CLE
  31. Luis Severino, NYY
  32. Miles Mikolas, STL
  33. Cole Hamels, CHC
  34. J.A. Happ, NYY
  35. Tyler Glasnow, TB
  36. Shane Bieber, CLE
  37. Jon Gray, COL
  38. Yu Darvish, CHC
  39. Robbie Ray, ARI
  40. Chris Paddack, SD   

Relief pitcher

  1. Edwin Diaz, NYM
  2. Blake Treinen, OAK
  3. Aroldis Chapman, NYY
  4. Kenley Jansen, LAD
  5. Sean Doolittle, WAS
  6. Roberto Osuna, HOU
  7. Brad Hand, CLE
  8. Kirby Yates, SD
  9. Jose Leclerc, TEX
  10. Felipe Vazquez, PIT
  11. Wade Davis, COL
  12. Tyler Glasnow, TB
  13. Collin McHugh, HOU
  14. Craig Kimbrel, BOS
  15. Josh Hader, MIL
  16. Ken Giles, TOR
  17. Raisel Iglesias, CIN
  18. Cody Allen, LAA
  19. Jordan Hicks, STL 

What are the Fantasy baseball trade values for every MLB players in head-to-head and Rotisserie leagues? And which surprising infielder is now a top-10 value? Visit SportsLine now to see the Fantasy baseball trade evaluator and chart, all based off the projections of one of the top Fantasy baseball analysts in the nation.