AP

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Jeff Weaver, right, looks down as pitching coach Rafael Chaves, left, comes out to the mound to chat with him and catcher Kenji Johjima after Weaver gave up three straight singles in the fifth inning against the Minnesota Twins at a baseball game, Tuesday, April 17, 2007, in Seattle.

SEATTLE - After all the issues Jeff Weaver has had while flopping from World Series hero for St. Louis to $8 million bust in Seattle, both he and the Mariners are trying to downplay another one: Weaver avoiding a trip to the minor leagues to rehabilitate his tired shoulder.

The Mariners wanted to send their No. 5 starter to perhaps two minor league outings to finish a stint on the disabled list that began May 11. But Weaver said he didn't need the trip. And because he is a veteran, he had the right to refuse.

Weaver, 0-6 with a 14.32 ERA, said having a bullpen session Thursday and an 85-pitch simulated game Sunday instead is not a disagreement with his sixth team in six years.

"It was always something we were going to discuss," Weaver said Thursday before he left the Mariners clubhouse to throw with what he says is a much stronger throwing shoulder.

Earlier this week, Seattle manager Mike Hargrove told reporters that Weaver needed some minor league starts because of the long layoff.

"He hasn't pitched competitively in three weeks," Hargrove said Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif. "It's just to see how he'll do in different game situations."

But on Wednesday, Hargrove told reporters he wasn't concerned about Weaver not pitching in a game in weeks, that a simulated game likely would be enough to lead him back into the rotation next weekend at San Diego.

On Thursday, Weaver said the Mariners asked him what he thought would be the best course to finish his DL stint. He said he did not refuse a request to make the minor league rehab starts.

"I just really feel that I've just been getting my pitches and getting enough of my endurance up in the bullpens here," he said. "It's not like I was working through a sprain or strain. I've been throwing the whole time."

The team says Weaver has had tendinitis in the shoulder. Weaver called it "fatigue" in the joint that has since improved markedly through weight lifting.

He said he had the same shoulder fatigue while with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005. Yet he pitched through it for 2 1/2 weeks because he was throwing well.

"When it happened this time, I'd been struggling," he said. "So I thought it would make it worse to struggle through it."

Weaver's eventual return will likely bump Ryan Feierabend back to Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners recalled Feierabend, who debuted with them late last season, on Tuesday to start against the Angels. He will start again on Sunday against Texas.

Cha Seung Baek, who was 2-2 with a 4.60 ERA entering his start Thursday against the Rangers, has pitched well enough since arriving to replace Weaver to earn a stay -- at least while Mariners starter Horacio Ramirez remains on the disabled list. Ramirez, who has shoulder tendinitis, is eligible to return June 9.