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Fair assessment, Taro.
Of course, lobbying for a .792 hitter as the critical need for the club, while the .883 hitter in Baltimore "struggles" kind of points to ... yes, the team IS missing Jones.  Of course, with Jones, they don't have Bedard, so it's just a completely different dynamic.
But, even your position includes a very important word:  *IF* -- If Bedard is extended for reasonable money, THEN it's not a horrible trade.  But today - at this moment - Bedard isn't extended.  In point of fact, he's on the DL, (the primary fear of many who opposed the trade, and the continuing #1 reason most people raise for why he doesn't deserve a big payday).
Perspective can make almost anything look the way we wish to be.  (for me, too).  Is it unfair to say that for Bavasi, it was a completely and utterly disasterous trade?  I don't think so.  Bedard did next to nothing, the season collapsed and the team won 61, and Bavasi was fired, in large part due to the results of that trade.  When Bavasi was axed, Bedard wasn't extended, or healthy.  If Z does manage to extend him - one could argue that the extension is COMPLETELY Z's deal -- and the extension is effectively an FA signing -- that the Bavasi deal "ended" when Bavasi left.
So, if Bedard walks, but Z signs someone like ... Peavy -- does that make the AJ trade less bad for the club?  If all the club gets out of the trade is a compensation pick, (which isn't assured, depending on the innings that Bedard can compile the rest of this season), then it'll go down in the annals of Mariner trades as perhaps the worst of all time.
Of course, your long term lineup ponderings assume that none of the prospects you mention get moved to go after a big bat this year.  Ackley is the only one guaranteed not to move, (for 1 year, IIRC).