"For 11 seasons in Seattle, Ichiro hitting out of the leadoff spot has been a Mariner fixture. That's where he's been for 1,722 of his 1,749 games. But that may be about to change.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge said Thursday at the club's annual pre-spring training luncheon that he is "leaning" toward hitting Ichiro in another position in the batting order.

Wedge cautioned that this potentially significant development is not final. But at the end of last year's disappointing season by Ichiro, in which he hit a career low .272 — his first time under .300 since 1993 — the manager had cautioned that it was no guarantee Ichiro would return to the leadoff spot.

Wedge has had more time to think about it since then, and here's where he stands:

"I haven't made any firm decisions. I've made it very clear over the course of the winter I'm thinking about it. I'm even further down the road to where I'm leaning in that direction to have Ichi hit somewhere else.

"I know it's a big deal to everybody. I can't get caught up in that. My job is to make sure I communicate that to Ichiro, make sure everyone understands what the options are, and what they're fighting for, and what I'm thinking about. That's what I'm going to continue to do.

"Right now, I'm going to be very open-minded to what I'm going to do, but I'm going to go into spring training leaning a certain direction.""