Nearing the All-Star Break: Corey Patterson and Rebuilding the Orioles, Pelfrey, and Quentin

 The Baltimore Orioles have a long-term plan to revamp and reimage the organization falling just short of cleaning house top to bottom.

With  Felix Pie(notes) back in the lineup and buzz surrounding a Ty Wigginton(notes) trade starting up,  Corey Patterson(notes) may not be in an Orioles uniform for much longer. Patterson however has been on a complete fantasy tear over the last 25 days sporting a .344 AVG., 14 Runs, and 11 Steals. For nervous or considering fantasy owners, Patterson should still get regular at-bats as the DH and will be the first outfielder off the bench to fill for absent starters.

I want to highlight two other players mentioned in Closing Time: Corey Patterson and the rebuilder's dilemma by Scott Pianowski. New York Mets starting pitcher/All-Star Mike Pelfrey and the spirit of the “SouthSide” Chicago White Sox outfielder Carlos Quention.

Mike Pelfrey(notes), has been a strong performer on my fantasy team but a bad trend is setting in and it is time to let him go. After Pelfrey’s start this Sunday I plan to drop him from my lineup, and pickup OF Carlos Beltran who will be returning from the DL following the All-Star break and starting in Thursday and Fridays games next week. On Pelfrey, Closing Time report said, (He) continues to limp to the first-half finish line – the Reds knocked him for seven runs on Monday. He's now allowed 21 runs over his last five turns, with a mediocre nine strikeouts against 11 walks. You probably should rest him on the weekend when he faces the Braves.

 And this on a man possessed, Carlos Quentin:

Quentins Catch Monday vs LAA Angels - Tori Hunter in the FIRST INNING!

“If you can figure out Carlos Quentin(notes),maybe it's time to move into more lucrative endeavors, like picking lottery numbers. He's clubbed 10 homers over the past five weeks (including two on Monday) after a horrendous opening quarter, but the homer binge in June was surrounded by a lot of curious stats – his strikeout rate went up, his line-drive rate went down, and his ground-ball rate went up. His HR/FB clip was rich in June, as you'd expect, but Quentin wasn't lucky anywhere else, carrying a mere .231 average on balls in play. Looking at the last two years, Quentin is starting to look more and more like a three-category player, someone that can give us power and runs scored but will be a drain in the other two standard categories. Home runs generally carry clout in trade talks, and with that in mind, now is probably a good time to peddle his recent power surge."