Is the Mets Line-Up Better with Jacobs than Murphy?

Although I don't completely agree with the idea of Jerry putting Mike Jacobs as the team's clean-up man on opening day, I do think the Mets line-up is actually better with Jacobs than it is with Murphy.  And here's why...POWER.

Although, in theory, Daniel Murphy is more likely to put a ball in play than Mike Jacobs, Jacobs is more likely to bring the thump.  And after looking at the Mets opening day line-up and realizing that they actually look formiddable from a power standpoint, I noticed that I wouldn't have thought the same with Murphy in the line-up instead of Jacobs.

Jacobs has hit 17 homers or more in all of his four full major league seasons.  Granted, Murphy has a smaller sample size, his career high was only 12 last season and doesn't quite have the presence at the dish that Jacobs does.  Overall, I think it's fair to assume that Murphy's max is around 20 homers, which although would be a nice number for him to hit, is all projection.  Mike Jacobs has ACTUALLY hit 20 homers before.  In fact, Jacobs has hit over 20 twice in his four years of MLB service, with his high being in 2008 with the Marlins when he hit 32.  Not to overstate the obvious here, but that's a pretty big number.  And with Jacobs in that opening day line-up, the Mets have a line-up from 3-8 where every player is capable of hitting 20 homers, with the only potential stretch being Barajas who's career high was 19 last season.

So, while I do feel Murphy is a superior defender, with a higher batting average and might be the best first baseman for them in the long run.  Right now, while Reyes and Beltran are out, I like the idea that teams may fear the Mets line-up because one mistake to anyone from 3-8 in the order could be immediate runs.  That's something the Mets didn't have last season, and if you throw in Reyes and Beltran, it only gets scarier...