Former Nintendo of America frontman Howard Lincoln has confirmed plans today to step down as CEO of the Seattle Mariners as Nintendo moves to sell off its majority stake in the baseball team.

This comes on the heels of Nintendo reporting a drop in both sales and profits for its most recent financial year, which may account for why it's choosing to sell roughly 45 of its 55 percent stake in the Mariners. 

The sale seems likely to bring in a nice chunk of change, as the Seattle Times pegs the overall value of the Mariners franchise at $1.4 billion. That's notably more than the $100 million former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi spent to buy a controlling stake in the franchise in 1992.

While Lincoln will remain on the team's board of directors to represent Nintendo's remaining 10 percent stake, he will be replaced as Mariners chairman and CEO by longtime team minority owner John Stanton.