When told that the New York Yankees covet him, Tampa Bay Rays star Carl Crawford says, “I don’t think about other teams. I’m only concerned with what goes on with the Rays.”

Last week, Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times said that the New York Yankees are expected to be big players when Crawford becomes a free agent after the 2010 season. Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated quotes one competing executive saying, “The Yankees absolutely love Crawford.”

In late February, the Rays and Crawford tabled their contract extension talks. Crawford is looking for market value, which would be in the $13-16 million per season range. One person familiar with their talks said the sides “never got close” and were “too far apart to ever gain traction.”

Rays’ owner Stuart Sternberg said at the time that the team’s payroll will be under $60 million next year, so at the time it was hard to believe that the team was going to dedicate over 25% of their payroll to one player.

Crawford, 28, hit .305 with 15 home runs, 68 RBIs and had 60 stolen bases in 2009 with the Rays. This is Crawford’s final season of a six-year $33.5 million contract. You can see Crawford’s contract history and statistics here.