Jon Niese 2009

Jon Niese is in the running for the fifth spot in the Mets rotation for 2009. That isn't necessarily a good thing, for anyone other than Niese, his immediate family, and the Mets opponents. Don't get me wrong...Niese may eventually be a good major league pitcher. But he's just 22 years old, and there's nothing in his statistical record to indicate that he's ready to be more than a very mediocre major leaguer at this stage of his career. At each level of the minors he's had good, but not exceptional strikeout rates. And at each level fo the minors, his control has been good enough to be effective, but not good enough to be effective at the major league level. Obviously with any young pitcher, you should keep an eye on his rate statistics for any major changes in his ability, but I would definitely not draft Niese to start the season in any standard format.