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Why not both?  Answer is simple ... money.  Like it or not, there is a budget.  What the ceiling will be for 2010 is only guesswork at this point.  Z did a not awful job of swapping out Yuni and Wash for Wilson and Snell.  More or less payroll neutral.
For 2010, Batista's payroll hit is gone.  Outside of that, we're looking at replacing the current Branyan, Beltre and Bedard contracts with something.  Currently, that's roughly $20 million spent on those 3 spots, and another 9 on Batista, (Griffey is getting another million or so).  There's lots of ways to look at it, but one says, the club needs to fill: 1B, 3B, DH, LF, "maybe" another starter, but almost certainly a bullpen arm or two.  So, they've got $30 million (give or take), to fill about 6 positions.  Some of those, (bullpen arms), can be had on the cheap. 
Is Saunders a lock for the LF slot for 2010?  I dunno.
At this point, I believe the base is strong enough and the culture turned around enough where considering a "big payday" FA isn't completely out of the question.  But, given the significant issues with having a defenseless DH slot this season, I would expect at least a little hesitation about rerunning a similar scenario in 2010.  I for one would vastly prefer a Gabe Gross contract being added that could do more than JUST DH. 
But, **BEFORE** you go and commit to a Dunn, (or whatever double-digit salary), I think Z is going to need to plug some of the unknown holes CHEAPLY for 2010 first.  I for one am not satisfied with the Saunders/Langerhans pairing for LF.  I'm hoping Saunders shows something in the final two months to change my mind. 
And THIS is where the GM really earns his money.  When the club STARTS close to being a contender, then it gets dramatically more difficult to give the kids a fair amount of time to adjust to the majors.  If you sign Dunn, then you're pretty much commiting to throwing AT LEAST two positions open to prospects ... and you have no money to spend to plug those holes if those prospects don't produce. 
today I believe in: Johnson, Ichiro, Lopez, FGut as adequate (or better) starters.  A nice base.  But that leaves FIVE (5) positions where the 2010 slot is currently up for grabs and will be either pricey to retain the current talent, (Branyan/Beltre), or the production of the likely suspects is very much in doubt.  (I'm a tad nervous about Wilson - while others might be more nervous about Johnson).
Dunn at DH doesn't help the team AT ALL ... *if* the other 4 slots go to the offensive equivalents of ... let's say ... Sexson, Vidro, Wlad, Cedeno.  Even assuming I'm correct about Johnson being adequate, and Wilson has no AL-phobia ... 1B, 3B, LF may get handed to Carp, Tui and Saunders with no fallback if you have to overspend for Dunn and/or the arb increases. 
The likely scenario at the moment seems to begin with Branyan returning and Beltre walking, (and given another 2 months of slumping Branyan, and an .800 hitting Beltre, I could EASILY see a massive migration of the Mariner fanbase over which is the better move).  Then again, with Carp being the best near-ready guy, and Tui having missed out on most of 2009, I could see the other argument as being the stronger.  But much relies on HOW MUCH do these guys want to stay?  The answer to THAT question is the one that supercedes the question of Dunn for me.