Yankees top list of contenders in race for coveted free agent Holliday

Outfielder Matt Holliday, probably the biggest free agent about to be on the market -- John Lackey and Jason Bay are the only other in-their-prime stars -- is said by a friend to love the idea of going to the Yankees.

After the Yankees, whom Holliday supposedly loves for their mystique -- and realistically, we'd have to assume their money -- he is believed to like the Dodgers, Angels and Mets, perhaps in that order.

"He just loves the idea of going to the Yankees. He loves the whole aura," the friend said.

Curiously, all of the thought-to-be preferred choices are in major markets on both coasts, which would be a switch for the Oklahoma product who's thrived in Denver and St. Louis (except for three days, anyway). Holliday batted .353 in St. Louis after struggling at .286 in Oakland this year, and he rebuilt his value by hitting .357 after the All-Star break and posting a 1.047 OPS, which was second best in baseball to the Cubs' Derrek Lee. Interestingly though, the Cardinals, who say they will make an all-out effort to re-sign him, are said by the friend not to be at the top of his preferred list. Holliday very much enjoyed playing in St. Louis, though, and appreciates the Cardinals' keen interest. So they are still likely to be in the mix.

Here is a look at the potential contenders for Holliday and their chances to take the big plunge. (In the L.A. Times, agent Scott Boras compared Holliday to Mark Teixeira, who got $180 million as a free agent last year.)

1. Yankees: They have a trio of corner outfield free agents -- Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady and Hideki Matsui (though he's only DHing this year). They could just try to keep Damon, who wants to return, for maybe $7 million to $9 million a year for two years, and sign a big pitcher instead (though Lackey's the only No. 1-type pitcher available, and some believe he may prefer Texas). "I'm not absolutely positive we're going to go for [Holliday]," a Yankees official said. Although, it's hard to remember too many years when the Yankees didn't go for the biggest free agent. (Carlos Beltran was a rare one they passed on.)

2. Dodgers: But if Manny Ramirez opts to pick up his $20 million player option -- and one Dodgers person said, "he has to pick it up now" as a make-good for what transpired this spring -- there wouldn't appear to be room for Holliday.

3. Angels: They tried to keep Bobby Abreu for $16 million over two years, and while he didn't accept, he said he'd like to return. But left fielder Juan Rivera is only an average bat in left field and they may let Vladimir Guerrero leave. The Angels are a great organization, but they seem to refrain from outbidding others for the biggest stars -- while they got Torii Hunter for $90 million before the '08 campaign, they failed to sign Teixeira and CC Sabathia before this season. They were outbid by a combined $81 million by the Yankees on Teixeira and CC (and missing out on CC has particularly come back to haunt them, as he has logged two wins against the Halos in the ALCS).

4. Mets: The last time the Mets were a backup plan to the Yankees for an outfielder was when they got Beltran, who so wanted to go to the Bronx he offered to do so for $98 million -- which was $21 million less than the Mets offered him. Holliday is said to be preferred by Mets people to Bay as a gung-ho clubhouse presence and a little better bat.

5. Red Sox: Their biggest mistake last winter was letting Teixeira go to the Yankees, and now with Bay a free agent, they are going to need to sign at least one big bat (and two if they want to match the Yankees' lineup). They could also chase Adrian Gonzalez or even take a peek at Abreu, who fits their hitting profile.