The contracts of manager Jim Riggleman and his coaching staff expired Saturday, and none were invited back, although a new manager might still keep some of that staff intact.

In the meantime, in baseball as in the real world, any job is a good one today.

Last week, Riggleman accepted the bench coach role for the Washington Nationals. Now, first base coach Eddie Rodriguez has been named a special assistant, major league coach for the Kansas City Royals.

That leaves Lee Elia, Mel Stottlemyre, Sam Perlozzo, Jose Castro and Norm Charlton in limbo and without jobs.

Meanwhile, former Mariners are popping up around baseball.

The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Aaron Sele as a minor league pitching instructor, and the Cincinnati Reds took not one but two ex-Mariners. David Bell began his post-playing career by accepting the managerial job for Carolina, and picked his own pitching coach – Chris Bosio, who owns one of the two no-hitters in Mariners history.

And here’s a charming follow-up to the Ken Griffey Jr. blog a few days ago.

Good friend Dr. Steve Lambros, who once put a few hundred stitches in my knee, sent along a link to a short story out of Philadelphia that will remind you again what a respected figure in the game Junior has become.

Thanks for the link, Doc.