"Two years ago this week, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik arrived at the baseball winter meetings in Indianapolis in search of a big bat.

He'd just landed free agent third baseman Chone Figgins and would leave those meetings having opened discussions that eventually led to the trade for premier starting pitcher Cliff Lee. But Zduriencik also left those meetings knowing one of his bigger bat targets, Jason Bay, was no longer an option and spent the next two years dealing with a Mariners offense that plunged to historic depths.

And that's why Zduriencik arrives in Dallas on Sunday for the winter meetings this year with many of those same big-bat goals in mind. He'll have a different free-agent target in mind this time in first baseman Prince Fielder, though once again, he knows he'll have to back down if bidding gets too crazy.

"In all these things, you have to figure out where it's going to end up," Zduriencik told reporters in a conference call ahead of the meetings, which run Monday through Thursday. "Often, years are a factor, dollars are a factor, and where you currently stand is a factor. There's a point with any player where you can go down the road a certain distance, and in the end find out it's not exactly where you want to go. A lot is up in the air."

The Mariners have filled one need, landing pre-arbitration catcher John Jaso from the Tampa Bay Rays for Josh Lueke and a player to be named. But the Mariners also have allowed other potential targets to land elsewhere, watching outfielder Grady Sizemore ink a one-year deal with Cleveland for $5 million while catcher Ryan Doumit signed with the Twins for $3 million."