Any time a player is activated from the disabled list and hits five home runs in his first eight games with his new team, we take notice.

OK, we take notice of a lot of meaningless stuff, but five home runs in eight games to start a season, as Carlos Quentin has done with the Padres, really gets the attention of a fantasy owner.

As you can tell by the headline of this blog, however, I'm not firmly aboard the Quentin bandwagon. I was one of its founding members in 2008, but jumped off at some point during Quentin's last three uneventful seasons.

In 2008, Quentin seemingly came out of nowhere to bat .288 with 36 homers, 100 RBI, 96 runs and a .965 OPS for the White Sox.

The next three seasons, he averaged 24 homers, but he hit .236, .243 and .254, and had norms of 58 runs and 73 RBI.

This season, Quentin had surgery on his right knee in March, which delayed his San Diego debut until May 28.

Then there's the fact Quentin now calls Petco Park -- traditionally one of baseball's best pitchers' parks -- home. In 34 games this season through Thursday, the Padres have hit 14 home runs at home.

If Quentin isn't racking up home runs, he's not of much value, since he's a .255 career hitter with 16 stolen bases in 624 games.

You might have guessed by now that I'm not a big believer in Quentin's early numbers (.481 average, five homers, nine RBI and nine runs in 27 at-bats).

I wouldn't play him in most mixed leagues (if you're in a 14- to 16-team league, maybe), but he can help you in NL-only formats.

If you do play him, know what you're getting: A player who can hit 20 homers, but likely won't help you at all in batting average, runs and steals.