It was time to go and everybody knew it. The buzz of 2007 had turned into boos, and all involved needed a new beginning.
On Friday, Joba Chamberlain got it.
Even though the Yankees need late-inning bullpen arms, bringing Chamberlain back wasn’t seriously considered.
“I talk to Brian [Cashman] all the time and I can’t recall a specific conversation about Joba,’’ Chamberlain’s agent, Jim Murray, said. “I wasn’t expecting one, Brian wasn’t expecting one and Joba wasn’t expecting one. He will miss New York and loved the New York fans but it was time to move on.’’
Chamberlain has no ax to grind with the Yankees.
“The memories are all good, even through the good and the bad, it’s all good,” Chamberlain told The Post in a phone interview Friday. “I was part of a World Series winner, the fans were great and the support unbelievable. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity. Seven years went fast. Obviously I’m looking forward to this opportunity, but without the [Yankees] opportunity I wouldn’t have this one.’’
After meeting with Tigers brass Wednesday night at the Winter Meetings at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Chamberlain slid over to nearby Lakeland for a physical Thursday and a one-year deal for $2.5 million was announced by the Tigers on Friday.
If Chamberlain appears in 55 games in 2014, he will get a $500,000 bump. Chamberlain, who made $1.8 million last season, is expected to start the year as a seventh-inning arm, but could move into the eighth if 23-year-old Bruce Rondon struggles or has health issues. Rondon missed the postseason with a right flexor muscle problem.
Chamberlain, 27, has worked more than 55 games once, having made 73 appearances in 2010. Due to injuries that included Tommy John surgery in 2011 and a dislocated ankle the following spring, Chamberlain has pitched 94 games in the past three seasons. He was 2-1 with a 4.93 ERA in 45 games this past season, when he was a mop-up man in the second half and booed often at Yankee Stadium late in the year.
“It was tough to find a rhythm; it was one of those years you learn from it. As a competitor it gets you frustrated,’’ said Chamberlain, whose velocity climbed into the mid-90s in the second half, though the teeth of his slider rarely surfaced and there were concerns about his fitness. “The slider is the last to come and they say it takes two full years [after surgery] for it to come.’’
With the Yankees signing Brian McCann, Hiroki Kuroda, Jacoby Ellsbury and having agreed to a deal with Carlos Beltran that hasn’t been announced, Cashman’s priorities weren’t with the bullpen.
“I talked to Jim Murray but we didn’t make an offer. We haven’t signed relievers. Boone Logan was productive for us last season and left for Colorado,’’ Cashman said of the lefty who received a three-year deal for $16.5 million from the Rockies. “We talked, but we didn’t make an offer.’’
The Yankees are looking for another starting pitcher via trade or free agency, but bullpen help eventually will be addressed.
They likely will concentrate on adding a lefty to the pen to help replace Logan, who appeared in 61 games in 2013 after making a career high 80 appearances in 2012. Following this past season, Logan had a bone spur removed from his left elbow.