Stephen Strasburg is 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA and more than eight times as many strikeouts (41) as walks (five) in his first four major-league starts.

Counting 11 starts in the minor leagues, the 2009 overall No. 1 pick is 9-3 with a 1.45 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 80 2/3 innings.

Naturally, it's time to trade him in fantasy.

Seriously.

It's seems ridiculous to even contemplate, until you read the comments from Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo.

Strasburg has thrown 94, 95, 85 and 95 pitches in his first four starts. He's pitched 7, 5 1/3, 7 and 6 innings. The Nationals, smartly, are being very careful with a 6-foot-4, 220-pound pitcher who is still a couple of weeks away from his 22nd birthday and has already accomplished what once seemed more improbable than Jhonny Peralta ranging 20 feet to his left to snag a hard-hit grounder -- he's made baseball matter in Washington again.

Rizzo told MLB.com recently the team has two options for Strasburg after the All-Star break.

Option A: Push back his starts one day, giving him extra rest between games.

Option B: Give him a couple weeks off in September, then have the rookie return to pitch the rest of the month.

Option A seems to be the most likely scenario, and this quote from Rizzo is encouraging for fantasy owners who are worried Strasburg won't pitch at all in the season's final month: "We want him to get through the month of September because he's never done that before," the GM said.

Which brings us to the possibility of trading a pitcher who could be the game's best as soon as next season.

Two quick points:

1. Strasburg's value isn't going to get any higher this season. He has been so dominant, even in his lone defeat, that owners might be willing to mortgage much more than they should to acquire a lights-out pitcher.

2. The Nationals have said Strasburg is expected to throw between 150 and 160 innings this season -- counting his time in the minors.

He's already at 80 2/3. If he pitches six innings per start, you might get 12 or 13 more starts out of him, and the extra-rest plan means you might not have many two-start weeks from Strasburg this season.

If you need help elsewhere and have enough pitching, you can trade a very good player who might only play once per week for an everyday stud -- and possibly one or two more pieces.

Week 22 of the regular season will run from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. In most leagues, the playoffs will begin the week of Sept. 6-12. If Strasburg takes the first half of September off, you might not have him in the final week of the regular season and the first week of the playoffs.

If he pitches every six or seven days, you will -- for five to seven innings per week.

Don't give him away. Don't trade him if you're in contention and you really need pitching. And especially don't trade him if you're in a keeper league.

Strasburg might be the best pitching prospect in a long time. Until the Nationals take the kid gloves off, though, he is a part-time player who can bring huge value in a trade -- and now is as good of a time as any.