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The one thing that I am completely and utterly lost about in this issue is the claim that the Mariners "never do what it takes to win" when, in fact, they have made almost the exact same attempts people are clamoring for them to do now. Before 2005, we signed Beltre and Sexson. In mid-2006, we traded away Asdrubal for Eduardo Perez and later followed that up with Choo for Broussard. Before 2008, we traded Sherrill, Jones+++ for Erik Bedard. Before 2010, we trading Aumont, Gillies+ for Cliff Lee. The names may be different, but these are all the exact same thing people are screaming for right now. What really, truly, legitimately would have been different about a Hamilton/ Swisher signing from these acquisitions?
Maybe you can nit-pick and talk about how bad the platoony or Bedard trades were, but that would go against the sentiment about how "the Royals at least did something unlike us ('cause we never do anything you know)". Those who are calling the Shieds trade bad for the Royals aren't saying so because of the talent swap (necessarily). They're saying so because they believe the Royals aren't a competitive team with or without Shields -- just like the M's weren't competitive teams with or without any of those trades.
Maybe you can claim that Beltre and Sexson were just horrible fits for Safeco. If, however, you looked at Richie Sexson's 2005 season, you would see that the guy was a freakin' monster to the tune of a .263/ .369/ .541/ .910/ 144 OPS+ line... in Safeco... as a right-handed hitter... (for the record, that's the 5th best OPS+ in the history of Safeco behind A-Rod's 163 in 2000, Edgar's 158/ 160 in 2000/ 2001 and Boone's 153 in 2001 -- all of whom, interestingly enough, are right-handed...). Just because he started to get old the next season (in which he still posted a 117 OPS+) doesn't mean he was a bad fit.
And then what about the Lee acquisition? Why has everyone forgotten about that? Honestly speaking -- and I know I can't back this up because I didn't get brave enough to say it then -- but I thought at the time (and still think) that it was just a very crafty opportunistic grab by Zduriencik to net some amazing value no matter the team's results.
Step 1: Trade some very fungible, low-minors prospects for an elite pitcher
Step 1a: Spin the PR guys so it's not obvious what the real plan is
Step 2: Watch and see how the team plays with him on the roster
Step 2a: If the team is competing, ride him hard and try to extend/ re-sign him
Step 2b: If the team still struggles, trade him midseason for an elite package of high minors+high need prospects
Step 3: Relish in this win-win-win scenario
In the end, you can absolutely claim the Mariners have no soul. It's 110% bupkiss to say it's not because they don't dare to make the big moves because they absolutely have dared to make the big moves. It's just as a Sandy has been pronouncing for what seems like forever now, though. The big moves haven't helped. In other words, the big moves don't improve teams; they help maintain the status quo.