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I have become convinced by Sandy's argument that a team needs to build the foundation before "topping off" with the mega-free-agent signings.  In the meantime, though, you gotta run a team out there, and you gotta convince them that they're scrapping for something.
Go back to Matt's post here: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/news/roster-turnover-let-kids-play
Draw a line over Aardsma (28).  Who do you really need above the line?  Ichiro and Branyan.
Then you got 19 guys 28 and below that you're moving forward with -- that's the foundation, and that's not even all of it (for example, Triunfel, Poythress, Robles, Fields, Aumont, Hill).
Above the line is where you find Wilson, Hannahan, Endy if he were still there; also Hall and Sweeney, who are not glove-first guys.
Below the line, where are the glove guys who would be backups on other teams?  Maybe Rob Johnson, but you can argue that C is different. 
So one way to construe the evidence so far is that they'll pull in glove guys as "roster patch" to stay competitive, but their main "foundational" moves for position players have been Guti, Ackley, giving Tui a shot at 2b, Carp, Poythress.  (The other counterweight -- besides annoiting Johnson at C -- would be using a first-rounder on Nick Franklin, who's too young for Matt's list.)
I will be stunned if they simply pick up Wilson's option at $8M.  I expect a multi-year deal at $5-6M per.  And the main reasons for that are that there are NO options at short in the "foundation" section (even the "extended version" -- therefore, the need for "patch") and that Z truly believes he knows what Wilson brings from seeing him in the NL central for many years.