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The 1B/DH situation should *ALWAYS* be looked at as a 2-position consideration.  And I think Z might be a wee bit fearful of repeating the '09/'10 error he made in regard to 1B/DH, (even though he "got away with it" in 2009).
In 2009, when Z "signed" Branyan - the take was Russell was going to be a complimentary player, probably getting the larger chunk of a platoon with Sweeney at 1B.  (Of course, this fantasy also included dreams of Junior patrolling LF for 80 games).
The club went into 2009 with Endy Chavez as the LF (Wlad in waiting), so it became Branyan, Griffey and Sweeney swapping 3 bodies through 2 slots.  That was the "plan" - and it's what eventually played out ... EXCEPT, Sweeney couldn't play first and Griffey couldn't play OF.  By year end, Carp was 2nd in games played at 1B (15) with Lopez?!? next (12).  Griffey and Sweeney ended up splitting 148 games at DH.
The double-geezer DH worked "well enough" in 2009 -- but it SERIOUSLY forced the team's hand in regard to PT at 1B.  I said at the time - in a "rebuilding year" that wasn't a horrible choice, since Carp wasn't ready.  But, when Branyan demanded 2 years and they let him walk, the 2010 plan became:  Kotchman, Griffey, Sweeney.  Bradley was intended to be "mostly" a LF, but could add some DH.
What happened?  Kotchman played 108 games, Smoak (not an M until mid-season) played 25, and Carp 9.  For *TWO* seasons, the club actually entered the year with *NO* backup plan for 1B, and a plan to split DH between players incapable of playing the position of DH fulltime.
For 2011, Smoak is the obvious starter at 1B, and Cust becomes the lead guy for DH.  But, Bradley is certainly not MORE likely to play 100 games this year than last.  IMO, Carp becomes the FIRST guy in 3 years that actually has a reasonable shot at backing up both 1B and DH for more than 30 games.  I think if Bradley were to jump up and be productive for 130 games, it is likely most of them would be in LF.
I've always viewed Carp as a likely .800 MLB hitter, with ZERO numbers of note ... a meh .260-.270 BA ... a meh .350ish OBP ... a meh .450ish slugging average ... a meh mid-20s HR total.  The kind of guy that is more valuable than almost every hitter on the roster, but who everyone complains about because he doesn't do any one thing exceptional.
I think he's a likely platoon candidate early in his career, who will likely need a 'lucky' injury to somebody else in order to get enough MLB ABs versus lefties to adapt and pull a Branyan.  Since I think one of Carp's strengths IS adaptability, what I suspect is a career similar to Branyan's, where he's likely to get stuck as a platoonee, and eventually get good enough at the role to have a long, but indistinguished career.  I think he's better than Langerhans, but could suffer the same fate.
What I *HOPE* is that Carp gets a chance to get 400 ABs between 1B and DH this year and that he succeeds.  If so, it will be the FIRST sign of actual player development in Seattle in the last decade.