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So we have Mike Carp, who was the 8th or 9th most important player in a 12-player deal.  Then we have Bill Hall, who was acquired for one non-impact minor leaguer.  Hall is traded for Kotchman.
I don't see the concern: Kotch acquired (when you net it out) for virtually nothing vs. Carp, part of a swarm of role players (Vargas, Carrerra) coming over in the Putz-Gutz trade.
Kotchman seems like a minimal-risk project, especially considering:
2005, at 22, vs. RHP: .286/.355/.551/.906 (mostly in Aug. & Sept.)
2006: slow start then DL on May 9
2007, at 24, vs. RHP: .292/.371/.481/.852
2008, at 25: decent start, brutally unlucky stretch (.209 BABIP in June), trade to ATL, Mom's near-death experience
2009, at 26, while with Braves, vs. RHP: .288/.366/.442/.808, then trade to BoSox where he never got on track
Seems to me that when the guy is in a stable situation, he can certainly get on base vs. RHP and he has shown power (admittedly, the SLG trend, even in the selected splits, is not so good).
But "Stable Kotchman" and Ryan Garko look like a pretty good cheap platoon combo.  But if "flameout" Kotchman shows up, it's not like Carp is out of options. 
And I do think that they WILL commit the resources to a MOTO bat when they find the right "fit" for Safeco (i.e., not Jason Bay) -- anything they do in the meantime is stopgap.