Fantasy Baseball Top DL Stashes: Salvador Perez ranks high among the top 30

We're nearing the point when every injury could be a season-ender, but when a player as high-end as Salvador Perez goes down, he needs to be stashed regardless, according to Scott White.

We've already reached that point, haven't we? The point when every injury is a potential season-ender?

Every injury of real significance, anyway.

Eight weeks are all that remain in the 2017 season, and if the typical injury -- a broken bone, strained muscle or whatever -- requires a six-week recovery, well, sometimes it's just not worth bringing back the player.

The Royals will presumably have every reason to bring back Salvador Perez, seeing as they're fighting for a playoff spot, but an intercostal strain in particular will require more than a minimal DL stay. Anything in that core area is tricky because it comes into play -- often forcefully -- in every baseball-related activity.

I'm thinking a month at minimum.

What if the Royals are out of it by then? What if it's more like six weeks, and they're out of it by then? What if Perez doesn't come back at all? 

It's pointless to entertain these hypotheticals. Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. But if he does -- and there's a better chance than not -- you want to be the one who benefits.

I mean, he's one of only four honest-to-goodness difference-makers at catcher (Buster Posey, Gary Sanchez and Willson Contreras being the others), so you'll certainly notice his absence. Dropping him won't change what happens to your catcher spot in the meantime, but it'll change what happens when he returns. And isn't a chance for assured impact worth stashing over some dime-a-dozen Aaron Altherr type? I think so.

So where does Perez rank among the other injured studs? Find out here:

Top 30 DL stashes

1	George Springer Houston CF
strained quadriceps
2	Clayton Kershaw L.A. Dodgers SP
strained back
3	Trea Turner Washington SS
fractured wrist
4	Carlos Correa Houston SS
thumb surgery
5	Stephen Strasburg Washington SP
elbow impingement
6	Robbie Ray Arizona SP
concussion
7	Michael Fulmer Detroit SP
elbow neuritis
8	David Price Boston SP
strained elbow
9	Salvador Perez Kansas City C
strained intercostal
10	Chase Anderson Milwaukee SP
strained oblique
11	Lance McCullers Houston SP
sore back
12	Johnny Cueto San Francisco SP
strained forearm
13	Mark Melancon San Francisco RP
strained elbow
14	Mark Trumbo Baltimore DH
strained ribcage
15	Dustin Pedroia Boston 2B
knee inflammation
16	Brandon Belt San Francisco 1B
concussion
17	Noah Syndergaard N.Y. Mets SP
strained lat
18	Aaron Sanchez Toronto SP
blister
19	Addison Russell Chi. Cubs SS
strained foot
20	Evan Gattis Houston C
concussion
21	Cameron Maybin L.A. Angels CF
sprained knee
22	Aaron Altherr Philadelphia RF
strained hamstring
23	Ian Desmond Colorado LF
strained calf
24	Andrew Miller Cleveland RP
patellar tendinitis
25	Felix Hernandez Seattle SP
biceps tendinitis
26	Mitch Haniger Seattle RF
lacerated lip
27	Starlin Castro N.Y. Yankees 2B
strained hamstring
28	Avisail Garcia Chi. White Sox RF
strained thumb
29	Jeurys Familia N.Y. Mets RP
blood clot in shoulder
30	Kyle Barraclough Miami RP
shoulder impingement

• George Springer is the one of the injured studs with a dwindling timetable, looking probable for later this week, so he's an obvious choice for the top spot. But I have the utmost confidence in Clayton Kershaw, Trea Turner and Carlos Correa returning, the former two possibly in August. Kershaw is already begging to throw off a mound, and Turner's and Correa's injuries have more definite recovery periods. Contrast them with Stephen Strasburg's, Michael Fulmer's and David Price's balky elbows or Robbie Ray's 108-mph liner off the head, and you have to feel optimistic.
  
• I have a sinking suspicion the Astros will hold out Lance McCullers for as long as they can justify it. The 23-year-old has already surpassed last year's inning total by 16 2/3, and they're hoping to play deep into October this year. Everyone remembers what happened to the Nationals with Stephen Strasburg in 2012, so now would be the time to curtail McCullers' innings. The severity of the injury doesn't even matter to me. He's on the DL, where I suspect he'll remain until September, which is why I prefer to stash …
  
• Chase Anderson, you may remember, was having a breakout season before straining his oblique in late June, having both added velocity and refined two offspeed pitches, a changeup and a curveball. So the fact he's beginning a rehab assignment should be welcome news to anyone who had the good sense to stash him (or who has the good sense to add him in the 25 percent of CBS Sports leagues where he remains available).
  
• With each passing week, I grow more and more pessimistic that Noah Syndergaard will return at all this year, seeing as he's still not throwing off a mound, but he's the prime example of stashing for upside. If and when he returns, I can virtually guarantee he'll be a fixture in your lineup, so even if it's for just two or three starts, you won't have regretted keeping him close unless you have so many players on the DL that the free roster spot could be the difference in making the playoffs or not.
  
• After Syndergaard come the players who aren't necessarily must-stash across the board but are good enough to stash, particularly if they meet a specific need of yours (Addison Russell with his shortstop eligibility, Evan Gattis with his catcher eligibility, Cameron Maybin with his stolen bases, etc.). Timetables are muddled with potential impact here. For example, Mitch Haniger and Avisail Garcia figure to return sooner than Aaron Altherr and Ian Desmond, but I have less confidence they'll deliver when they do.
  
• Don't sleep on the saves potential for either Jeurys Familia or Kyle Barraclough, who could both return late in August. If I was confident they'd be in line for saves the moment they came off the DL, they'd rank not too far behind Mark Melancon. Each is thought to be his team's eventual choice for ninth-inning duties.