An emotional Ichiro Suzuki all but begged his general manager and manager to let him play despite ulcers, but Jack Zduriencik said he couldn’t let himself be persuaded.

“This was serious,” Zduriencik said. “We had to take the decision out of his hands, because he did not want to do this. We put him on the disabled list He wanted to negotiate.”

On the DL for the first time in his major league career, Ichiro told doctors his stomach had been bothering him since before the World Baseball Classic began last month, and that he had taken medications to ease the pain.

“He was treating the symptoms, so when he got to Arizona and started feeling light-headed and tired, we had a pretty good idea where to start looking,” Dr. Mitch Storey said. “It might have been caused by bacteria, by stress, which produces acid – we don’t know yet, but with the tests we took, we should know Monday.”

Ichiro began a course of medication and rest, limited to a strict schedule of when and how long he could work out for the next few days.

“You’re talking about a warrior, and telling him he wasn’t going to be on this team opening day was emotional for him,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “Everyone on this team knows what he was willing to risk to play. We couldn’t let him risk it.”

Ichiro stayed behind in Peoria for a few days when the team flew to Las Vegas on Saturday morning. He was not happy, but he understood the decision.

Storey said ulcers typically require three or four weeks of treatment, but that Ichiro had begun healing last week when Wakamatsu forced the issue by sending him home and barring him from working out with the team over a three day period.

Because Ichiro was placed on the DL retroactive to March 31, he’ll be eligible to come off for the Mariners second home game of the season on April 15 - if there are no complications.

“I don’t see any reason he won’t be able to play in two weeks,” Storey said.

Ulcers are relatively rare among players – Zduriencik joked that general managers often get them – but Storey said that’s because they are often caught early.

“If a player complains of stomach pains, we usually take care of that with medication and it doesn’t go further,” Storey said. “Ichiro played with it, would have one good day, then a bad one, but didn’t stop playing or working.”

For now, he has.

Ok, I just got a call back from manager Don Wakamatsu as he boarded a plane for Las Vegas.

I asked him if this was something that Ichiro had been playing with throughout the WBC or if it was a result of the WBC. And he wasn't sure because Ichiro hadn't mentioned any discomfort when he came in.

"The first sign we had was the light-headedness in the game against Milwaukee," he said. "I'm just glad we were able to catch as it as soon as we did."

Wakamatsu called the meeting with Ichiro about going on the disabled list "emotional."

"This is a guy that's never been on the disabled list and something he takes great pride in," he said. "But we had to convince him that this was the best thing for him and the best thing for this team. He did not want to not be with the team when the season opened."

Ichiro being stubborn still lobbied to play, and Wakamatsu admitted Ichiro won't be able to rest like a normal person would rest.

"It's a challenge, we're trying to get him to understand the severity of this and how important these first few days are when it comes to his recovery," he said. "This is a serious thing, and if we had misdiagnosed it or he pushes it too soon, it could be really serious."

When I mentioned if people realized the true strain that he was under in the WBC with the crushing expectations and overwhelming media scrutiny, Wakamatsu went even further.

"To me, it's just the fact that he cares that much," he said. "I don't know if people give him enough credit for how much just he much cares about playing the game, his teammates and the teams he plays on."

As for how it affects the 25-man roster, Wak didn't let on who might replace him there or in right field - those decisions will be made after Vegas, but he did say that Endy Chavez will most likely move to the lead-off spot in his place.

"Guys are just going to have to make up his production in other areas," he said.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has decided to send Rule V draft selection Reegie Corona back to the New York Yankees.

Per Rule V draft rules, Corona must be on the team's 25-man roster for the entire season or be sent back. If the Mariners wanted to option a Corona back to the minors, the club must first offer him back to his original team for $25,000 (half of the $50,000 claiming fee).

Zduriencik also had the option of trading for Corona. However the recent signing of utility man Chris Burke made the idea of trading a player to keep Corona far less necessary.

Corona, 22, appeared in 26 spring games, batting .281 (16x57) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, one home run and 7 RBI.

This puts the Mariners 40-man roster at 36 players

UPDATE 1:18: Apparently Ichiro has been cleared to work out by team physicians. KIRO Mariners reporter Shannon Drayer is reporting this. This is good news for Ichiro and the Mariners. I'm sure the Mariners won't want the workouts to be too strenuous. But that he's able to take some BP, and such is good."

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with GM Jack Zduriencik and he said that Ichiro was not happy with the decision to be placed on the disabled list. He wanted to try and play through the discomfort and fatigue.

"At the end of the day, we took the decision out of his hands," Zduriencik said.

Even after the diagnosis, Ichiro wanted to get some work in to stay shape.

"He wanted to work out today," Zduriencik said. "We had to tell him no."

The remedy for this is heavy rest and lack of activity, which isn't something Ichiro is used to or will accept easily, but Zduriencik said the Mariners will be vigilant in making sure that he does not try to rush himself back.

"We want him to really rest because that's the remedy for this," Zduriencik said.

Zduriencik said the decision to place him on the DL was prudent, considering the time of the year.

"This was a decision based on what's best for 162 games, not the early window of games he would miss," he said. "Had we allowed him to play, or this thing got worse later in the season, you're looking at the possibility of him missing 14 or 15 games."

Zduriencik seemed confident that Ichiro would play the day he becomes eligible, which is April 15th and the second game of the opening home stand against the Angels. There is a slim possibility that he could join the team in Oakland next weekend.

"He'll also have the off-day workout in Seattle (April 13th) and I think he should be ready to play in that second game, if everything goes as planned," Zduriencik said.

As for the 25-man roster, Zduriencik said they are going to wait till after the games in Las Vegas to decide. Currently, the Mariners have 36 players on the 40-man roster after shipping Rule V pick-up Reegie Corona back to the Yankees (see above), which means that Mike Wilson or Mike Morse could be added to the 40-man as a replacement. Of course, knowing Zduriencik he could also find somebody on the waiver wire as well.

The Mariners announced today that Ichiro will start the season on the 15-day disabled list because of a bleeding ulcer.

"It was a very difficult decision to place Ichiro on the disabled list," GM Jack Zduriencik said, "especially since we know what a fierce competitor he is, and how important it is to him to help the team. However, we determined it was in both his best interest, and the best interest of the club, to place him on the DL at this time."

Ichiro had been suffering severe fatigue, which caused him to miss the Mariners last three Cactus League games (March 30-April 1). He was examined by doctors, including Mariners team physician, Dr. Mitch Storey in Arizona yesterday. They determined that he had suffered a bleeding ulcer. The ulcer is not currently bleeding, but in the interim, doctors have ordered restricted activity.

Ichiro will be eligible to return to Major League games on Wednesday, April 15.

While this comes as a shock to many fans, if you know Ichiro, this isn't surprising. This is a man who internalizes everything, particularly when it comes to baseball. He swallows it and hides it under a cool facade.

In the past, he had been bothered by stomach issues at times. In his approach to break George Sisler's record in 2004, he admitted to having stomach aches.

I truly believe the grind of the WBC had a lot to do with it. The crushing Japanese national media attention, the lofty expectations of a nation of fans and his own extremely personal goals placed a lot of pressure on him. Pressure which he just he kept inside. He's not the type to let it out with a rant or a temper tantrum, that's not his way. Call it a poker face if you want.

One thing I noticed in his postgame celebrations of this year's championship was a sense of relief. Sure he looked overjoyed to win, a look I hadn't seen from him in a while. But was it joy that they had won, or was it joy that they had won, and all of the other nonsense - like the high attention to his at times slumping bat - was finally over.

Suzuki appeared in four games with the Mariners in Spring Training, hitting .417 (5-for-12). He reported to camp on Thursday, March 26, after leading Team Japan to its second consecutive World Baseball Classic championship.

Ichiro has played in 197 consecutive games (dating back to Aug. 26, 2007), the 4th-longest active Iron Man streak in the Majors. He has played in 807 of Mariners last 810 games over the last five seasons, and since coming to Seattle in 2001, has played in 1,280 of 1,296 possible games (missed only 16 games in 8 years).