I suppose the big hubbub of the day revolved around Albert Pujols and the Cardinals not agreeing to a contract extension before Pujols' deadline and so it appears that he will play the 2011 season under his current deal, set to expire after the season.
The Ms have around $60 million in salary commitments on the books for 2012 already which obviously does not include arbitration raises and other club controlled deals. Their current budget level is around the $90 million a year mark. Ignoring for the time being that it would never happen, say Albert Pujols hit free agency and his agent actually picked up the phone when the Mariners called and expressed a real interest in bringing him to Seattle. That he would sign here if they made the best financial offer.
For the sake of a number, say it took it took just over Alex Rodriguez's contract (10/275) to get him to commit to the Mariners. It's not realistic, but it is feasible that the Mariners could afford this especially since they could back load the deal. Given the constraints to the roster that it would cause, Pujols' age and all the other factors involved, would you trade that to have him in Seattle? At what salary demand would you hang up the phone?