NL East

A pivotal change could be looming for the Philadelphia Phillies and for once, it isn't all bad.

After five consecutive losing seasons, free-agent disasters like Frank Francisco and payroll slashing into mid-market territory, the New York Mets made a splash on Friday morning. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, ex-Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is on his way to Queens on a four-year, $60 million deal. 

Curtis Granderson has signed with the New York Mets. On Friday, the Mets and Granderson agreed on a four-year, $60-million deal. The signing has Mets fans thrilled, as the front office finally seems to be spending money trying to improve the team.

While most of Major League Baseball's free agent activity generally doesn't occur until after Thanksgiving or even until the winter meetings, which start on December 9, the Philadelphia Phillies have been active nonetheless in the open market thus far. They've inked outfielder Marlon Byrd to a two-year, $16 million contract and also re-signed catcher Carlos Ruiz to a three-year, $26 million deal.

The Mets have both Ike Davis and Lucas Duda on their roster as first base options. Being that they are both left-handed hitters and the Mets are in the National League, it seems all but certain that one of the two will get traded this offseason.

This will be an interesting decision for the Mets to make. They could decide to stick with the more proven Davis, or give Duda a real chance to be the starting first baseman. The Mets, though, should go for proven talent instead of raw potential.

Barring something unforeseen, the Philadelphia Phillies have settled on their everyday eight in the field for 2014.

Third baseman Cody Asche will join the veteran trio of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins in the infield. Carlos Ruiz and his three-year contract extension will be behind the plate.

So, we woke up this morning and the New York Mets did something. That was new. They signed free-agent outfielder Chris Young to a one-year deal worth $7.2 million. It's a little weird, but let's talk this through before we react.

Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. recently spent half an hour talking to Mike Missanelli on 97.5 The Fanatic. The presumptive goal of Amaro Jr.'s participation in the interview was to placate Phillies fans.

For New York Mets fans, it's been a difficult run of futility, especially during the hot stove season. While rebuilding and retooling can be justified by any rational fan, the lack of big-market activity by general manager Sandy Alderson has been alarming over the last few years.

Major League Baseball is on the cusp of something big. Whether it is the bursting of a looming bubble from overwhelming television contracts to pricing casual fans out of the ballpark with substantially high, overpriced contracts for aging stars.