TAMPA – Darryl Strawberry is out of baseball again. But this time, according to the former slugger and George Steinbrenner, it’s not because of drug use.

Strawberry, 41, resigned from a minor-league hitting coach position yesterday in order to spend more time working for his church. When Strawberry wasn’t in Yankee camp Tuesday, eyebrows arched.

Considering Strawberry’s past history with drugs some wondered if he suffered a relapse.

“This has nothing to do with that,” Strawberry told The Post from L.A. where he was on a youth crusade with the Church Without Walls. “There has been no relapse and I didn’t fail a drug test. It was just a conflict of interest between working for the Yankees and my church. My relationship with God and my church are important.”

Steinbrenner, who hired Strawberry to the $50,000 a year post in November, was miffed when Strawberry didn’t show for Tuesday’s workout. But after investigating the reason and talking to Strawberry, The Boss said he is squarely behind the former slugger who completed a prison term last April for violating his parole that resulted in several cocaine busts.

“I was upset he wasn’t here but then I was told that he had to go to the West Coast with his church,” Steinbrenner said. “My door is open for Darryl if he decides to come back to baseball.”