Johnny Damon's contract expires at the end of the season. Considering he is hitting .342, second best in the American League, he will be among the premier free agents. With Bernie Williams in the twilight of his career, the Yankees are poised to be one of Damon's primary suitors. Damon said if he did enter free agency, he would not rule out the Bronx as a possible destination. "Boston is definitely my No. 1 choice," he said. "If we don't take care of something during the season, I'm going to keep my options open to whatever is out there." Damon, 31, joked that the talk-show host Regis Philbin tried to court him to the Yankees in April. But before Damon goes anywhere, teams will have to deal with his demanding agent, Scott Boras, who negotiated Jason Varitek's four-year, $40 million deal in the off-season. Varitek declined to say if he had spoken with Damon about his contract, but he did offer a strong pitch to the club to keep him. "It'd be hard to imagine him not a Red Sox," Varitek said. "I don't want to have to try to get him out."