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One other variable is that it is VERY rare to trade for a player, then immediately re-sign him the following season.  "Part" of the reason for this, I believe, is that doing this makes the OTHER guy look like a complete moron -- unless that rental worked out EXCEPTIONALLY well.  Clearly, that is not the case with Wash in Detroit.
It's not just the case of potentially losing goodwill with Detroit in the future -- but also losing respect among the other 28 GMs.  Remember, Z is the new kid on the block, and as good as he's been, he's still got to deal with these guys on a daily basis. 
I agree that Z likely has greater faith in his BOR-ghetti than most Seattle fans.  But, Z also has a much keener awareness of the psychological impacts of moves on the entire organization, too.  Not to say that he won't sign Washburn.  But, it makes perfect sense to me that he'd give every other GM every opportunity to help obfuscate the whole -- "we traded two specs to get 8 horrible starts - and then handed the guy back" pie in the face for Detroit.