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Great stuff.
I've been a lifelong Mariner's fan.  Starting, I'm sure, with Dave Neihaus's radio broadcasts being played in the background at summer barbeques.  Continuing on as I'd catch games like Brian Holman's almost perfect-o on the small screen in my parents bedroom, constantly having to adjust the rabbit ears to maintain a decent signal.  My fan "soul" so-to-speak was cemented in 1995 which just happened to be the beginning of my senior year in high-school.  For that one game playoff I hit the ticketmaster outlet that morning, kidnapped my carpool, skipped school, and proceeded to enjoy the most momentus game in Seattle sports history.  
But, I do remember that it was Luis Sojo's inside the park, error filled, bases clearing, trip around the bases that sealed the victory for us that day.  That hired gun will always have a place in my fandom.  The fact that that epic play came off of Mark Langston, a former M, and a big time free agent acquisition by the dreaded California Angel's made it all the more sweet.  I mean really, who signs a FA contract to play with a hated rival? Ok, he may of been biter that we traded him in his FA year, but still.
And certainly that 1995 year was made all the more special by the presence of Joey Cora, who's famous for his tears - a moment beloved by fans, despite the fact that he was just another free agent acquisition.
I mean, Jay Buhner and Randy Johnson were both trade imports. When KGjr went down with a drastic wrist injury on that famous spider-man like catch, it was Vince Coleman's addition that sparked the team towards their epic run.
Junior was beloved in a way that neither Randy Johnson nor Alex Rodriguez will ever be.  Randy Johnson was just ugly, both in personality and apperance.  We loved to watch him pitch, and turned out in droves to do so, but he never captured our hearts.  Alex was just too pretty and to phoney.  We all believed him to be a plastic man and his platitudes and statements ("it's not about the money") just rang hollow to us all.  I believe he became the most hated figure in Seattle sports (up until Howard Scmultz, Clay Bennet and David Stern torpedoed a franchise) just because AROD became everything we feared him to be.
And, I think that any M's fan at the time will tell you that the Mariner's didn't mistreat KGjr.  KGjr bailed on the franchise.  KGjr demanded to be traded, to one team and one team only.  The M's bent over backwards for him, but Seattle and the PNW were too remote, too small market. 
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That's the sentiment that sticks in my craw.  This east coast bias.  The sentiment that Seattle is a backwards city, drenched by rain, in the far corner of our country.  Why would a free agent want to sign there?  Why would a player want to stay?
The "soul" of a Seattle sports fan is an interesting thing to behold.  We've been trodded upon, time an again.  Owners buy our teams to move them to other destinations.  Homegrown talent uses our team to develop only then to take the money to star on some bigger stage.  When our teams do succeed we expect moments like Super Bowl 40, I mean instant replay is in the NFL because of a horrible goal line call that cost the Hawks a trip to the playoffs.  Vinne was stopped way short Mr. Luckett, tyvm. 
So, at least partially, I think that's why Prince Fielder, and others before him, become our metaphorical white whales.  We crave recognition.  For our city and for ourselves as fans. Seattle fans believe themselves to be the best in show, rightly so says I.  I mean, have you been to a Sounders game?  Seahawk stadium on a Sunday night?
We're tired of being an afterthought.  We're tired of being slighted as a destination.  Really, why are the Nationals looked at more favorably than the M's?  I'll throw Felix, Pineda and Ackley up against Strasburg, Harper and whomever any day of the week. 
I want Prince, I want him because I think the M's are more ready to compete than we give them credit for, I think his addition in the line-up will help, not hurt, the development of Smoak and Carp and it'll play up the value of our tablesetters. But, I also want him to survey the scene and reinforce the idea that Seattle is as awesome as I think it is. 
Happy Holidays,
 
- Ben.