Jorge Posada reignited the debate over Joba Chamberlain’s future yesterday, recommending the young pitcher be kept in the bullpen and predicting more injuries if the New York Yankees put him back in their starting rotation.

“I think if you start him and he pitches 200 innings in one year, you’re going to lose him. He’s going to get hurt. I don’t see him as a starter,” Posada said yesterday during a session of “CenterStage,” scheduled to air on the team’s YES Network starting September 28.

Chamberlain, the hard-throwing righty who turns 23 next week, began the season in the Yankees bullpen, then moved to the rotation in June. The plan was to limit his innings early, then make him a full-time starter.

“He’s been around the game and that’s his opinion. I’m not going to fault the guy for having an opinion. We all have opinions,” Chamberlain said. “We have to sit down. It’s going to be what’s best for the team in the long run. It’s your career and you have to be a part of it. You do what’s best for yourself, also, but the end goal is to win a championship. Whether that’s in the bullpen or as a starter, time will tell.”

He was sidelined from August 4 to September 2 because of rotator cuff tendinitis and went back to the bullpen when he returned.

“A little tendinitis, it just tells you a lot,” Posada said after the TV interview. “I think his body is made up for a reliever.”

Chamberlain was 3-1 with a 2.76 ERA in 12 starts, striking out 74 in 65.1 innings. He’s 1-2 with a 2.29 ERA in 24 relief appearances, fanning 34 in 28.2 innings.

New York hasn’t decided its future plans for Chamberlain.

“We’ll discuss whether Chamberlain will be a starter or a reliever, along with everything else, during the winter,” co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said.

Manager Joe Girardi didn’t mind Posada voicing his opinion, saying “some players feel more freely to discuss them openly than others.” He also said the decision could depend on offseason developments.

“For right now, we still envision him as a starter. We just didn’t have a chance to build him up,” Girardi said.

He did reject the notion that starting makes Chamberlain more susceptible to injury.

“You can’t put your head inside a guy’s arm,” he said. “People will argue it’s better to start every five days from a physical standpoint, where you get four days’ rest. Other people say it’s better to throw in the bullpen, but what if you have to throw three days in a row? I mean, I think it just depends on the individual.”

Chamberlain would like the debate to end at some point.

“At the beginning of the year, we’re just going to have to say, this is it,” he said. “Then I never want to answer another question about it again.”

Posada had season-ending shoulder surgery June 30 and expects to return behind the plate for New York next season, anticipating he can catch 120-130 games. With the Yankees almost certain to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993, the 37-year-old says the team must go into the free-agent market to repair its starting rotation. CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets and A.J. Burnett are their chief targets.