I've argued for some time that at the core of what was wrong with the Mariners under Bill Bavasi was they didn't have a plan. It was too often a Band-Aid approach with a we'll-cross-that-bridge-when-we-come-to-it attitude toward future consequences. Well, love or hate the three-team, 12-player trade new GM Jack Zduriencik pulled off, there's no denying he's following a plan.

Acquiring Franklin Gutierrez and Endy Chavez addresses a huge team need, dramatically upgrading the outfield defense, and it allows the team to be patient with their outfield prospects instead of rushing them to the majors to plug holes.

Trading for Mets prospect Mike Carp gives the organization a future at first base. The organization's first-base cupboard was so bare that last year three players who belong nowhere near the majors (Miguel Cairo, Jose Vidro, Bryan LaHair) played 115 games combined at first base. The Russell Branyan/Chris Shelton platoon is a high-upside cheap stopgap until Carp arrives.

The minor leaguers acquired re-stock the organization after years of dealing prospects for instant gratification (which rarely ended up gratifying). And the players have good upside -- one has a 98-mph fastball and the other is a semi-power/speed combo (30 XBH/28 SB) who Baseball America named the best defensive outfielder in the Florida State League.

Trading J.J. Putz is an acknowledgement that bullpens can be built on the cheap (Putz himself evolved this way), which means good things for future roster construction.

Now, maybe all of this backfires -- the prospects never pan out, the bullpen blows up, Zduriencik is unable to add still much-needed power to the lineup -- but at least the team is no longer driving by braille.