The Mariners are handing baseball operations to the baseball people:

From what I’m told, the ownership group is fed up with being the butt of jokes within the community they live. The current team’s flirtation with winning is something they view as a moment to be seized.

CEO Howard Lincoln used to have to run every decision by the Japanese representatives of Redmond-based Nintendo of America, which held majority control. Now, even though the ownership transfer won’t officially occur until August, I’m told Nintendo will likely only intervene on non-payroll business matters while leaving baseball decisions to Stanton.

Even better, supposedly Lincoln himself is on board with the team upgrading for a playoff run.

And that would be a dramatic about face for an organization that’s long stood pat when infusions were needed.

The Mariners have never been to the World Series, so it would be nice to see them pull out all the stops to at least win a pennant this season.