Mariners turnover has already begun with loss of scout who signed George Kirby

It is almost certainly accurate to say that the Seattle Mariners' leadership will experience some turnover during the offseason. It is even more accurate to say that it has already begun. Ty Holub is off to join the Baltimore Orioles, and it's a big loss even if he wasn't a household name in Seattle.

Take it from this post by Joe Doyle of Over-Slot Baseball, reporting on Holub's departure on Tuesday:

Those are some nice feathers in Holub's cap from his time as a Regional Scout for the Mariners. Despite his recent fall from grace, George Kirby is one of the best young pitchers to come along in the 2020s. Jonny Farmelo and Luke Stevenson are currently top prospects. Brody Hopkins and Ben Williamson helped the Mariners get Randy Arozarena and Brendan Donovan in trades.

This alone gives you a sense of why Mike Elias would want Holub working with him in Baltimore, and the timing couldn't be better. After getting depleted in recent years, the Orioles' farm system is once again on the up-and-up. A guy like Holub can keep a project like that humming.

You can expect more talented people to depart the Mariners in the coming weeks

As for where things go from here, all signs point toward Dan Wilson being a goner from the manager's chair. It also seems fair to expect some departures from the coaching staff, up to and including hitting coach Kevin Seitzer.

Will Mariners fans weep at these losses? Nah. There are more likely to be cheers, and more if John Stanton goes full scorched-earth and shows Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander the door as well.

Yet even if the top of the front office seems safe, there are bound to be more departures of the Holub variety. It's a given for any team in any offseason, and seemingly more so for the Mariners.

Last winter saw the Cleveland Guardians hire Andy McKay and Tony Arnerich away from Seattle in a matter of days. The Pittsburgh Pirates caught the train and hired Kristopher Negrón. These guys had worn a variety of hats in Seattle, including assistant general manager, bullpen coach, Triple-A manager, first base coach and third base coach. Not generals, perhaps, but clearly capable footsoldiers during a five-year run in which the Mariners topped 85 wins annually.

Such is the downside of what Dipoto has built in Seattle. Go ahead and make your jokes, but ESPN's Buster Olney wrote that Dipoto's job would be "one of the most coveted in the industry" if he were to lose it. Consistent wins are best cultivated through top-down quality, and the story of the Mariners' Dipoto era is ultimately of a bunch of good minds finding and developing a bunch of good players.

Many of those good players are going nowhere, but the good people clearly are. And after what happened this year, it's only fair to worry if the Mariners are now stuck paying the cost for that.

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