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There aren't any elite free agent hitters next year. Anyway, even if there was one, the M's wouldn't be the only team looking to sign him so it's not as if a Mark Teixeira were available then the M's could act like they've got him locked up right now. So to assume that you can get an elite player to fill whatever you're weakest spot is whenever you feel like is incredibly foolish. Most likely you won't ever be so lucky which means you can't operate as if everything will naturally fall into place. You need to be pro-active and get quality players when you can, even if they aren't a perfect match.
Take the Phillies. In 2003 they signed Jim Thome to a gigantic long term deal even though they had Ryan Howard in the minors. Did this set them back? Was this a huge mistake? No, they got two years of big time performance out of him and when Howard was ready they traded Thome away and continued winning. They made it work, and they didn't have the luxury of using a DH (and the M's don't have a Ryan Howard waiting in the wings).
You are also presuming that the M's can only acquire one star player. That isn't the case. Ichiro's $18 million comes off the books next year which means the team will likely be able to add another major player even if Fielder is signed.
There is another factor that everyone advocating the wait-and-see approach aren't addressing. The attendance at M's games is dropping and will continue to drop as long as the M's struggle. That means the franchise is missing out on a massive amount of revenue and it is only getting worse and worse. If the team wins again, they will make a lot more money which will off set any ineffeciencies there may be in signing Fielder. He could in effect pay for himself. But if we continue to be a boring, no-offense team for the next year or two, there will be less money available, which means even if the PERFECT guy does become available (and again, that most likely will not be the case), it will be either harder to sign him or the team won't have as much money left over to fill out the roster.