On the day that Manager Joe Girardi announced the worst-kept secret in camp, that Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia had won rotation spots and Bartolo Colon earned a relief job, his satisfaction was tempered by his concern about Feliciano, whose unavailability would leave the Yankees without a second left-hander in the bullpen. Their only other options in major league camp are all right-handed — Luis Ayala, Romulo Sanchez and Mark Prior — and of those three, only Sanchez is on the 40-man roster.

Taking a broad view, Feliciano, 34, said he was disappointed but opted for a broader view of his situation. He could handle missing a few games, he said, if it meant a clean bill of health the rest of the season. In 2010, Feliciano made 92 appearances for the Mets, a total surpassed only three times before in the majors — by Mike Marshall in 1974, Kent Tekulve in 1979 and Salomon Torres in 2006. Feliciano is unlikely to reach that total again, at least as long he plays for the Yankees. Already, Girardi has told him his rules about bullpen usage, that very rarely will he ask a reliever to pitch on three straight days, something Feliciano did 10 times last season. Not that he complained.

To a degree, that frequency troubled the Mets, factoring into their decision not to seriously consider re-signing him in the off-season. But, after also passing on Hisanori Takahashi, they also were not in the financial position to enrich Feliciano with the two-year, $8 million deal offered by the Yankees. General Manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees felt Feliciano was overworked, but not enough to deter them from adding one of the premier left-handed specialists in baseball.

“I wouldn’t say anything has been alleviated,” Cashman said. “It’s still a concern.”

Feliciano said his arm has always recovered quickly after appearances, and that this setback was unrelated to his workload. He has adhered to the same workout routine for the last seven years, a regimen of resistance bands and weight-lifting intended to strengthen his back, lower body, rotator cuff and abdominal muscles.

On March 8, the day before his last outing, Feliciano said he put himself through a punishing upper-body workout. “I love the weight room, it’s kind of my life,” Feliciano said. “Maybe I was feeling too good and I spent too much time there that day.”