LAKE BUENA VISTA — With tons of experience at making deals, the Yankees are letting the Jim Edmonds Game come to them. Look into their eyes and there isn’t a trace of fear because they have been down this road so many times. The Yankees get what they want or leave the table with no regrets.

“They have told the Angels, ‘Don’t do a deal without coming to us,'” a source said. “They know they have the best fit.”

And that was before The Post discovered the Mariners, who also talked to the Angels about Edmonds, are on the verge of trading lefty John Halama to the Tigers for left-handed hitting outfielder Bobby Higginson.

That deal, which is being viewed as a salary dump by the Tigers, takes the Mariners out of the Edmonds Game and only helps the Yankees land the 29-year-old left-handed-hitting outfielder, if they so desire.

The A’s have an interest in Edmonds, one that will rise when Higginson becomes a Mariner, but are only offering young pitching that Angels GM Bill Stoneman will get heavily criticized for taking in return for Edmonds, a free agent to be whom the Angels haven’t made an attempt to re-sign.

So, the Yankees sit with Alfonso Soriano as the chip and wait. And the longer they wait, they may make a deal without including Soriano, who they would really like to hold on to in order to use for a pitcher later in the season. While the A’s have been told that Stoneman wants a deal done in the next 24 hours or he won’t do it, that message hasn’t worked its way to Tampa.

Despite the Yankees insisting they won’t trade pitching for Edmonds, Yankee reliever Ryan Bradley has told friends in Southern California he expects to be dealt to the Angels along with Soriano.

Asked if the Yankees were close on a deal, Joe Torre was evasive.

“No, but we didn’t know anything was imminent when we got [Roger] Clemens last year. That was a 24-hour thing,” Torre said after the Braves handed the Yankees a 9-5 loss yesterday at Baseball Stadium. “With so many teams halfway through spring training looking to move people and looking to do things, anything is liable to happen. I think we are fine where we are.”

Still, there are voices within the organization who believe the Bombers are a bat short and would like to add Edmonds’ sweet swing to the lineup and Gold Glove defense to the outfield. And if Edmonds can be had without giving up pitching, those voices will grow louder. If they can get Edmonds without giving up Soriano, those voices will be screaming.

Edmonds’ name came up often at Thursday night’s sit-down called by George Steinbrenner at Malio’s, a Yankee hangout in Tampa. The Boss listened to his Inner Circle state opinions on where the two-time defending World Champions are with less than two weeks before they leave Florida.

“It was just an update on what everybody thinks about our club,” said Torre, who ordered salmon, the fish, not Tim, the Angels’ outfielder.

With the Mariners out of the Edmonds Game, Stoneman only has the A’s and Yankees to talk to because the Cardinals’ refusal to part with pitching prospect Chad Hutchinson terminated any talk between the clubs.

The offer the Angels turned down from the A’s was pitchers Brett Laxton and Jesus Colome and outfielder Mario Encarnacion. Since then Laxton was dealt to the Royals for Jeremy Giambi.

The most recent talks have centered around Colome, a 19-year-old righty who played at Modesto (Single-A) last year and 28-year-old lefty Ron Mahay, a converted exp-Red Sox outfielder.