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Sieze the Carp!
I actually mentioned Carp as a possible grab when Putz was still a Mariner.  So, I've been hoping for his success for quite awhile.  I think the club knew before 2010 that Carp wasn't quite ready to move up, which is why they went and got Kotchman.  I think it's pretty obvious they tweaked his approach, (fewer walks, more HRs), and I think success would've been unattainable if tweaking his approach WHILE facing MLB pitchers on a daily basis. 
As for the positional thing ... the club has a vaccuum of expectation for BOTH 1B and DH in 2011.  While hope is high with Smoak, there is no track-record of performance to create a reliable expectation.  And with MB's volatility, DH remains a mystery slot.
When you have uncertain production - the best cover is to try and create multiple layers of it, in hopes that even if some slices fail, others will succeed.