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My memory is that the club offered Branyan a deal - which BRANYAN turned down -- asking for two years.
Also - Kotchman was NOT a free agent signing. Kotchman was a trade of Bill Hall, (who had a fairly onerous contract), and (IMO), is beyond hope for reclaiming his career.
The problem with a TRADED player is you have to take into account BOTH sides of the deal. When you get Cliff Lee - it's VERY obvious you were really, really after Cliff Lee. When you trade Silva for Bradley, it ain't so obvious that you were swooning over Bradley.
Hall for Kotchman does NOT scream the club valued Kotchman way above the rest of the field. It tells me that Z was looking for a club that had a 1B worthless to them - who would be interested in a backup multi-position player that was of no use to Seattle.
The fact that they go out and snag Garko immediately after Kotchman to me SCREAMS that they were hedging their bets with Kotchman from the get-go.
But -- all that aside -- my point is that there are there are THREE levels of defensive value to consider -- it's not binary. Are they plus defensively? Are they a defensive liability? Or, or they defensively neutral. My point was that saying "we won't settle for a defensive LIABILITY" is not the same as saying "we demand defensive excellence."
Yuni was traded away. Lopez wasn't. Who do you think had more value on the open market?
Heck, in 2009 Branyan was no defensive wonderkind. Nor was Sweeney. In 2009, Z specifically did NOT demand defensive wizardry from the 1B position.
I think Z would be very much against adding Adam Dunn - because Dunn is a major defensive liability, (unless he was to be a DH-only).
What *I* see with Kotchman is a young (under 30) player, who was once upon a time a HIGHLY regarded spec, who got shoved aside for the new flavor. Yes, he's great defensively, like Gut. But, Gut is still with the team and Endy Chavez is not. (Yeah, the injury complicates the picture). But, it is EASY to focus on the one variable that supports a view (defense), while ignoring all the other variables in play, (salary, age, previous peak, previous PT, etc., etc., etc.).