I’ve heard it in numerous different hypothetical Mets 2009 rotations. Some of them have the Mets not resigning Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez and replacing them with just one starter — CC Sabathia or Derek Lowe or AJ Burnett or whoever.

Ultimately, all the theories have one starter replacing two starters, which puts the name Jonathan Neise in the No. 5 slot.

I would love to think baseball is like MLB 2k8 or Baseball Mogul where I could just plug in Neise and simulate a season to see how he turns out. But it just isn’t like that, and I worry that Neise is not ready. After all, he had very limited time at Triple-A. He had three starts in the big leagues this year — two bad and one good but also the second game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves.

It would not surprise me in the least if Neise is not with the Mets to start 2009. I would suspect it would take an electric spring training in addition to a wide-open vacancy in the starting rotation to put Neise with the team. I think they are inclined to both give him more seasoning and filling the vacancies through the offseason.

In the unlikelihood that the Mets actually go with Neise already in the No. 5 slot in 2009, I would fear a scenario like what Mike Pelfrey endured in 2007, where he is just met with struggling and it takes a long time for him to get over it. It’s hard for a young starter to just “learn” in the big leagues, especially with a fanbase as obsessed as the 2009 Mets fanbase will be.