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My personal opinion of the whole Carp-hype is that people are overhyping him/overvaluing his upside based on a short sample (with .343 BABIP and 22% HR/FB), because he is the only home-grown, long-term alternative to Smoak.
While his power could be plus, his BB- and K-rates are minuses, and up to now he hasn't shown he could produce enough ISO to offset that. His Fielding is a minus, his running is a minus.
Ibanez is Mike Carp as an outfielder with the added bonuses of being a clubhouse leader and having a 10% lower K-rate. There is a reason why Carp has never been more than a B- in Sickels lists and was downgraded to C directly afterwards.
There is a lot of reason to assume that Carp will never be more than a useful but easily replaceable piece. Of course he has a nice ceiling, but the chances of him reaching it are too slim, and the most likely MID-scenario is just not enough. There's only a certain number of roster spots and it wasn't worth wasting a spot on him just because he was out of options.
And, to be honest, neither would it have been fair to him. He can compete now for the Red Sox, instead of sitting on the Mariners' bench.