Secret Sauce wrote
It's tough to say how much a player's preference influences a player's decision. For example, I doubt A.J. Burnett "preferred" Toronto to St. Louis in the off-season before 2006. He said he was interested in St. Louis and grew up in Alabama a Cardinal fan, but money talks sometimes. I'm sure it's different for every player, but it's probably the best idea to just take this kind of info with a grain of salt.
AJ wasn't even just the money, his 3 year opt out clause was unheard of at the time. How could you not take a deal like that? Front loaded money, and then you can opt out of the contract after you have collected a good portion of it, but the team cannot opt out? It was a win/win for the player.