The Jacobs/Tatis Platoon Just Might Work--for a While

Now that Daniel Murphy is out "2-6 weeks", there is the thought that he just may be gone longer.

While I'm no fan of Murph, I do believe he has a future as a Ty Wigginton type player rather than a big league first baseman.

As you can see here, Wigginton has had a decent career by virtue of his versatility and ability to hit a little while playing multiple positions.

With Mike Jacobs officially making the team, there is a chance for the Mets to have some production at first base way over and above the 95 OPS+ that Daniel Murphy provided last year.

Let's look at the 2008 numbers of Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis, and see if we can't come up with a decent big-league first-sacker:

Mike Jacobs:

Split        AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS
vs RHP      358 92 23  2 25  70  1  0 31 83 .257 .315 .542 .857 

Fernando Tatis:

Split        AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS
vs LHP      106 33  8  0  1  19  0  0 14 20 .311 .393 .415 .809 

Now that would be a decent combination, not great, but more production than the Mets had last year.

The two-headed monster looks poised for around 30 HRs and 100 RBIs and an OPS near .850.

Again, not Pujols-esque, but certainly leaps and bounds over the 12 HRs, 63 RBIs and .741 OPS the Mets got out of Murphy last year.  It's even better if you add in Delgado's 4 HRs and 23 RBIs to the mix.

So while the Mets don't have an anchor over there, they do have a decent answer for 2010.  Most importantly, Ike is a phone call away--if he gets off to a tremendous start in the minors and Jacobs struggles, I would fully expect him to man the position going forward after a shakeup, trade or release. 

And then there will be a long-term solution there--Ike Davis--I only wish it was now.