New manager Don Wakamatsu has continued GM Jack Zduriencik’s revamping of the organization as Mel Stottlemyre and Lee Elia have been dismissed.  Stottlemyre was the pitching coach and Elia served in three different capacities in 2008, including special assistant, hitting coach and bench coach.  Sam Perlozzo, Eddie Rodriguez and Jim Riggleman have already been taken off the coaching staff.

When Stottlemyre was hired many people thought he would be a good coach for Felix Hernandez, but it became apparent that his “establish the fastball” mentality only hurt Felix.

Bullpen coach Norm Charlton and hitting coach Jose Castro are still currently on board.  I don’t expect Castro to remain with the big league team, however.

It isn’t official, but Wakamatsu’s good friend and A’s hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo is expected to join the Mariners’ staff soon, most likely as the bench coach.

Rick Peterson is not a candidate for the pitching coach position, according to Larry Stone.  Many people around the Mariner blogosphere were rooting for Peterson.

UPDATE: Jason A. Churchill of Prospect Insider has some new rumors up about who the other coaches may be.

He’s got Dom Chiti as Seattle’s next pitching coach.  Chiti has never been a pitching coach at the big league level, and only has limited experience in the minors.  He has spent a lot of his time as a scout and in various other front office capacities.  Hiring a first timer is kind of risky, especially after everyone had their hopes up for Rick Peterson.

Rick Adair is rumored to be the leading candidate to take over in the bullpen.  It’s never a good idea to play the sentimental game, but I will miss having the Sheriff around.

JAC’s got Wayne Kirby as the next first base coach and Mike Brumley as the third base coach.

And to my surprise (see above), Churchill thinks that Jose Castro will be retained as the hitting coach.

We’ll see if these rumors hold up.  The official announcements should be coming soon.