By JUSTIN TERRANOVA

Johnny Damon thinks his days in The Bronx are numbered after this season, according to an ESPN 1050 report.

Damon said he believes the young outfielders in the Yankees system would probably force him to find a new home next season.

“I know where I want to be next year,” Damon said. “I want to be here in New York. I also know New York has a lot of young outfielders coming back. Austin Jackson is in the wings. At least, in this situation, I know my chances of coming back could be slim because of the young talent the Yankees do have.”

Damon, who is hitting .276 with four home runs, is hoping a solid season will convince the Yanks brass to re-sign him.

“I just go out and play,” Damon said. “I think what happened before I think everybody in the world thought I was going to re-sign with Boston. Everyone thought I was going back. Here, people don’t really know. Everyone is pretty much thinking this could be my last year here so I think that is a difference. I went out as a free agent in Boston and had a great year and I priced myself out of there market, at the time. Hopefully, I can go out and have a good year and they can see how important I am with the other players with doing the recruiting and doing whatever this team needs me to do. I’ve enjoyed playing here.”

It’s good to see that Damon wants to play beyond this season after he considered retirement before the 2007 season. That was a story that didn’t get talked about a lot because the news didn’t come out until well after. But it was one of the interesting nuggets in the Joe Torre book that wasn’t talked about a lot.