Fantasy Baseball 2012: 10 April Duds You Need to Cut Ties with ASAP

April has been a tough month for Alfonso Soriano and many players that fantasy baseball owners were counting on entering the 2012 season. 

We as fantasy players can't afford to wait any longer for sub-.200 average hitters and 5.00-plus ERA pitchers to turn it around. 

These slow starts can no longer be dismissed. They should be viewed as the makings of poor seasons

Here are 10 players fantasy owners need to rid themselves of.  

Alfonso Soriano: Chicago Cubs, OF

Simply put, Soriano has been dreadful in 2012.

In 72 at-bats, Soriano has two runs, zero home runs and an ugly slash line of .236/.250/.250. 

Though, entering the season, owners shouldn't have expected a well-rounded performance from Soriano. He hasn't batted better than .258 or posted more than 67 runs since 2008. And he has swiped only seven bags in the past two seasons. 

His value stemmed strictly from his power, as he has hit at least 20 home runs every year since 2002.

But not only has Soriano not hit a home run in 2012, he only has one extra-base hit.

If he's not slugging, there's just no reason to own him in anything but a deep league.

Ryan Roberts: Arizona Diamondbacks, 3B/2B

After a breakout 2011 campaign in which he hit 19 home runs and swiped 18 bags, Ryan Roberts has been a colossal disappointment throughout April.

Currently, Roberts has one homer and is sporting an atrocious slash line of .159/.243/.254.

Such poor play has led to him no longer having a guaranteed spot in the order.  Cody Ransom, who is a .226 career hitter at age 36, has begun to take away some of his third base duties. 

There was reason to be skeptical of Roberts having the same type of success in 2012 as he did the prior year. Despite being 31 years old, he had never posted more than seven home runs or steals in a single season before 2011.

Roberts has proved such skepticism correct thus far.

And with options such as Houston Astros 2B Jose Altuve floating around the waiver wire, there is no reason to wait and see if Roberts can eventually prove his 2011 was no fluke.

Jonathan Sanchez: Kansas City Royals, SP

Jonathan Sanchez's first season in a Royal uniform has gone far from smoothly.

Through four starts, Sanchez is 1-1 with an abysmal 6.75 ERA and 2.02 WHIP.  He has especially struggled with his command, walking 17 batters in 17.1 innings.

Further, Sanchez doesn't have the type of proven track record that would lead us to believe he would be capable of a drastic turnaround. 

The command issues aren't new for Sanchez, as he led the majors in walks in 2010 with 96 free passes. On top of that, he has only posted an ERA better than 4.24 once during his time in the big leagues.

Sanchez provides a nice dose of strikeouts, but he won't amass very many wins, and the WHIP and ERA concerns are simply too much to overcome for him to have a spot on your team.

Delmon Young: Detroit Tigers, OF

Delmon Young hasn't been of much use to fantasy owners in 2012, as he has five RBI, one home run and a slash line of .242/.311/.333 in 18 games.

And in reality, Young was never a huge fantasy asset to begin with.

He's only knocked out more than 12 home runs in a season once, he's never posted more than 80 runs and has only eight steals in the past three seasons. 

With Young currently on the restricted list for a hate crime he commited last Friday, and with plenty of solid outfielders such as Cody Ross and Luke Scott available in many leagues, now seems like the opportune time to get rid of him.  

Max Scherzer: Detroit Tigers, SP

Scherzer's 2012, has been, in a word, horrendous. 

The 27-year-old righty has the second-worst ERA at 7.77 in MLB, for those who qualify.

But that's not the worst of it. After Sunday's start in which he allowed a whopping seven free passes, he also leads the league in WHIP at 2.05.

While he's always been serviceable and possesses great stuff, Scherzer (4.06 career ERA) has never consistently excelled at the big-league level.

The reward for Scherzer simply isn't enough to warrant holding on to him in the midst of this rough patch.

Francisco Liriano: Minnesota Twins, SP

After an impressive spring training, Francisco Liriano was viewed as a potential sleeper by many. 

Well, those people were wrong.

Liriano currently possesses an 11.02 ERA and a 2.33 WHIP. He has pitched only 16.1 innings in four starts and has more walks (13) than strikeouts (12).

His performance has been so inadequate that his last start was skipped so he could have what was dubbed a "maintenance week" to fix his mechanics.

Don't hold your breath.  Liriano simply isn't the pitcher many want him to be and hasn't been for some time.  In 24 starts last season, he posted a 5.09 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. 

Put him on your waiver wire and don't think twice about it.

Paul Goldschmidt: 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks

Paul Goldschmidt was a late-teen round draft pick in 2012 due to his power potential.

In 2011, he hit 30 home runs in the minor leagues, and knocked out eight more and slugged .474 at the big-league level after his August 1st call-up.

But thus far, Goldschmidt has not delivered on fantasy owners' investment.

He is slugging a putrid .278 and has only hit one home run. On top of that, he's killing fantasy owners with his .185 batting average.

And Goldschmidt is another D-Back who is losing playing time. Manager Kirk Gibson has sat the 24-year-old two out of the past three games in favor of Lyle Overbay. And given how well Overbay has played (.290 BA and .873 OPS), Goldschmidt will likely find himself on the bench often in the foreseeable future.

Cut him loose and consider scooping up hot-hitting Cubs first baseman Bryan LaHair. 

Mark Reynolds: Baltimore Orioles, 3B

Mark Reynolds has been one of the more disappointing fantasy players in 2012.

He hasn't benefited owners in even one category. In 18 GP, Reynolds has four runs, three RBI, zero home runs, no steals and is batting .150. He also has struck out an absurd 28 times in only 60 at-bats.

While the batting average woes were expected, Reynolds' lack of power (.228 SLG) is a huge problem. 

Reynolds should eventually turn it around (he's never slugged less than .433 in a season), but given the short benches in fantasy, he's so useless now, it's not worth the wait.

Drop him (given his stats, it's unlikely someone will pick him up), but monitor his situation.

J.P Arencibia: Toronto Blue Jays, C

Entering the 2012 season, J.P Arencibia was viewed as a guy who, although would hurt your team in batting average, could help greatly in the power department.

While he has lived up those poor BA expectations, currently hitting .197, he has not hit a home run since Opening Day.

And if Arencibia isn't hitting for power, he really has no use for fantasy owners.

There aren't a ton of options out there in terms of catchers, but I'd prefer the more balanced production of Wilson Ramos to the streaky Arencibia.

John Danks: Chicago White Sox, SP

Although his team, the Chicago White Sox, have been playing better than expected, John Danks has done just the opposite. 

In his five April starts, Danks has already given up five home runs, sports a WHIP of 1.52 and an ERA of 6.23. He is also third in the American League in walks with 15.

And it is not as if Danks' recent struggles have come out of nowhere. He faded at the end of 2011, letting up 25 ER in 29 IP in September. 

Considering it's not as if Danks is a huge asset in strikeouts, he just isn't worth holding onto at this point.