Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice: Paul Blackburn, Jose Berrios, Ryan McMahon (2024)

It’s never too early to start acquiring players with the hopes of turning your season around or solidifying yourself as a top contender. Here are names to consider selling high this week.

Fantasy Baseball Trade Advice (Week 4)

Sell High

Paul Blackburn (SP – OAK)

Hanging onto Paul Blackburn makes sense. He didn’t cost you anything. Even if you drafted him, it was late. Consider this, though, there are most likely some owners in your league that need pitching. Blackburn has one win in three games. In just over 19 innings he has 11 Ks and three walks. His ERA currently sits at 0.47. The strikeouts won’t blow you away and pitching for Oakland doesn’t add to the appeal. Blackburn is a fine pitcher to hang onto to see if he might have season-long fantasy relevance. He is also a bad start or two from being a possible weekly streamer. You won’t get much for him, but he didn’t cost you anything, so you won’t lose anything.

Jose Berrios (SP – TOR)

Jose Berrios is 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Can we trust him to continue this early success? He has pitched against the Rays, Astros, Mariners and Rockies. The Astros were perhaps the toughest lineup, but they haven’t looked great this season, especially in the early weeks. His next two projected starts come against the Padres and Royals. Again, these matchups don’t seem to be overwhelming for Berrios.

Unlike, Paul Blackburn, you could probably get a good return for Berrios. Unfortunately, like Blackburn, if Berrios strings together a few bad starts he will lose value fast. Perhaps I’m still stuck on Berrios’ horrendous 2022, but he pitches in a tough American League East division and better lineups will come. I would entertain some offers.

Ryan McMahon (3B – COL)

Ryan McMahon plays 81 games in Coors Field, so he will always have value. He’s currently hitting .349 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. His strikeout rate is not bad at 23%. McMahon’s career average is in the high 20s, so I would expect more strikeouts in the future. I also would remind you that McMahon has better numbers in the first half. He hit .260 last year in the first half but finished the second half at .211. Perhaps you have some owners in your league that could use a third baseman. He’s hitting the ball well and has only played six home games. Trading him with a couple of home series games coming up could help add some value.