In case you missed it, the Mets did not sign Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas nor Adulterated League slugger Nelson Cruz.

Tomas was signed by the Diamondbacks for 6 years, $68.6M. The Mariners locked up Cruz — who was originally drafted by the Mets — for 4 years, $58M.

I combined the news of these two signings for a few reasons. First, the investment figures are strikingly similar, despite the contrast in age, experience, and reliability between the two players. Second, one would think that these would be two players that the New York Mets would be after, yet they were not.

In previous years, the Mets passed on Cuban gambles such as Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes, and Jose Abreu. Hey, they weren’t the only team afraid to roll the dice, so you can’t be too hard on the Mets. Then again, the Mets weren’t rolling the dice on ANYONE from ANY country, so you have to wonder if it was more about being cautious as a policy / discipline — or was it for financial reasons?

This offseason, though, is supposed to be different from those previous. This is the winter that the Mets are “going all in,” with the goal of pushing the 2015 squad into the postseason. Granted, the offseason is far from over — the winter meetings have yet to begin — but it’s somewhat mysterious that a team in dire need of offensive production would completely pass on two big targets who wound up being fairly affordable.

I will repeat, for emphasis: affordable. Look at it this way: the Mets spent more on Curtis Granderson last winter than the cost of either Cruz or Tomas. If you didn’t like Cruz’s age, you might have liked Tomas’ upside. If you didn’t like the idea of gambling on Tomas’ uncertain adjustment to life in the USA and MLB, you could have signed Cruz.

Kudos to the Mets for jumping on Michael Cuddyer early, but Cuddyer alone will not turn the Mets into a team that wins more games than it loses. There’s already been discussion around the blogosphere that the Mets are looking for another righthanded hitter to pair with Cuddyer against LHPs — maybe someone like Jonny Gomes, Ryan Ludwick, Nate Schierholtz, or Michael Morse. One of those players could make sense, but again, is it enough to push the Mets to the next level?

Oh and by the way — why did the D’backs sign Tomas? That seems crazy to me, unless the plan is to now use Mark Trumbo as a trading chip. Hmm … could that mean there’s a Trumbo-to-Mets trade on the horizon, perhaps one that includes Didi Gregorius or Chris Owings, with one or several of Noah Syndergaard, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee, and Bartolo Colon moving to Arizona?

What do you think? Should the Mets have been in on Yasmany Tomas or Nelson Cruz? Why or why not? And do you think they will obtain another slugger before the winter is over — or was Cuddyer their “big” offensive acquisition? Could the Tomas signing be a prelude to a Mets-Diamondbacks deal?

Post your notes in the comments.