This NY Times article profiles Scott Boras, the agent who the Stros must deal with if they are going to sign free agent Carlos Beltran. Although the Yankees can easily outbid the Stros for Beltran, the article at least suggests that some things not associated with playing baseball in New York may be more important to Beltran than the premium that the Yankees would pay for him:

Does Beltran really want Boras to put him in pinstripes or does he need Boras to create that illusion? This winter, the Yankees may come to find out that they are not the ultimate destination for players anymore, not when a World Series is no longer a guarantee, not when free agents like Jason Giambi fizzle in New York, not when Steinbrenner is the resident curmudgeon. This year, the Yankees may be artfully used as decoys by Boras – particularly in Beltran’s case.
In June, Beltran was craving anonymity, not the New York market.
“I pray to God I can be a great player, but I want to keep my life,” Beltran told Sports Illustrated. “I don’t want to be hiding from people. It would be difficult to be recognized everywhere, so that I couldn’t do things ordinary people can do. I love to go to the grocery store or the movies or go to the mall and be just an ordinary person. In Kansas City they don’t know who I am. Same thing when I’m home in Puerto Rico. I like that.”
By the playoffs, Boras seemed to be a ventriloquist for a bolder Beltran.
“When I see an owner who cares about winning, I like it,” Beltran said in an obvious reference to George Steinbrenner.
Is Beltran bluffing? Is Boras? Everyone will know in April how sentiment and comfort are rated by Boras’s clients when the Yankees and the Red Sox line up for opening day at Fenway. Will Varitek be there? Will Beltran?

My sense is that Beltran will end up in New York or Anaheim, but we Stros fans can dream, can’t we?