One place high on Lilly's wish list: San Francisco. Lilly, a 2004 All-Star who will be a free agent after this season, is from California and he grew up a Giants fan. He also loved playing in the Bay Area when he was with the A's (if Oakland had an open spot, he wouldn't mind signing there, either) and his wife, Tasha, is in her second year of veterinary school at UC Davis.
Another plus for Lilly is that Giants manager Felipe Alou was his first big-league manager, in 1999 at Montreal.
"I was just looking at some of their starters, I don't know if (the Giants) have an opening in their rotation, but yeah, that would be a place I'd like to go,'' he said. "I'm not at the point of thinking about it too much, though, it's so early. A lot of things can happen, and this is a fun division to be in. It's not close to home, but it's the AL East.''
Lilly's former teammate, Barry Zito, also will be a free agent and Lilly said the two have joked that they might go somewhere as a package deal, a special two-fer deal on left-handers.