We've had plenty of fun recently with the whole Tarik Skubal discourse, after ESPN's Buster Olney casually threw the Mariners into the mix as a contender to trade for him. As much as the M's don't need him per se, SoDo Mojo's Zachary Rymer made the simple but indisputable point that the pitching ace is the best player they can possible acquire this winter.
In reality, it was always going to be a bit of a long-shot for the Mariners (or anyone) to obtain arguably the best pitcher in baseball.