Last winter, Mariners nation demanded action. The more bloodthirsty wanted a public beheading in the front offices. The prudent just wanted the team to plunk down some serious coin for a proven bat. And while the former set their eyes upon the guillotine, the latter gazed longingly toward Texas, where Josh Hamilton was hitting the market. After tallying up 43 home runs in 2012, imagining the things Hamilton could do in the newly hitter-friendly Safeco Field was simply arousing. General manager Jack Zduriencik went after Hamilton, but was outbid by the Angels; and after each visit from that Los Angeles squad, we begrudgingly say “Thank heavens.” Hamilton is batting in the low 200s, and going into August has fewer than 20 homers and a piddling 41 RBIs. Sure, we have players with similar stats. But they didn’t cost $17.4 million.

Editor’s Note: This story originally stated that Zduriencik did not pursue Hamilton. Turns out he did. We regret the original error and thank Seth Kolloen for pointing it out with minimal shaming.