Nightengale: Josh Hamilton sits, waits restlessly

• Josh Hamilton is easily the biggest prize on the free agent market
• He wants a seven-year, $175 million contract
• Teams are interested in Hamilton, but no one is talking about him

NASHVILLE -- We know that he's here, but no one has seen him.

We know teams are interested, but no one is talking about him.

Josh Hamilton is easily the biggest prize on the free agent market — unless you're a huge Jeff Keppinger fan — but he continues to be the biggest mystery at baseball's annual winter meetings.

Hamilton might be the most talented player in the game.

He's also the biggest gamble, a monstrous risk capable of enriching and inspiring any franchise or ruining it.

He wants a seven-year, $175 million contract, and after being the only star free agent at these meetings, he quietly departed Tuesday night discovering that no one will come close to meeting his request.

So we wait.

The New York Yankees suddenly are acting like they're broke. The Boston Red Sox decided they would rather commit $88 million for free agents Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli and Jonny Gomes than dish out some of that money for Hamilton.

The Los Angeles Dodgers normally would give Hamilton half of the Playboy mansion for his services but have no need for another outfielder.

So the Texas Rangers sit around and wait for Hamilton to call them, seeing if it will take anything more than a three-year deal for about $75 million to sign him.

Yet something strange is going on. You know something is amiss when Hamilton and his wife, Katie, are coincidentally on the same flight Sunday with Rangers general manager Jon Daniels to Nashville but since their arrival have not had a single meeting, let alone a telephone call, Daniels says.

The Seattle Mariners confirmed they have met with Hamilton. The Philadelphia Phillies won't divulge whether they did or not. No other team has even been mentioned for his services.

The Rangers don't know if they should be sweating, or giggling, with Hamilton's free agent market softer than anyone possibly could have envisioned.

"We're still in the mix, and before he makes a decision," Rangers manager Ron Washington says, "he'll give us a chance. And we want that chance.

"We're not giving up on Josh. He knows we love him. But he's got to do what he's got to do.

"Hey, it's his time."

That's the $25 million-a-year question: Just what is his time?

Is his time the first two months of the season, when he hit .368 with 21 homers and 57 RBI? Or is his time the last 380 at-bats, when he hit .245 with 22 homers and 57 RBI?

Should his time be viewed hitting 43 homers with 128 RBI last year, or striking out a career-high 162 times, disappearing down the stretch, and vanishing since the Rangers' season ended?

The Rangers have been with Hamilton for the last five years, and if you talk to his teammates, they still don't really know him.

He is a devoutly religious man, but he has demons that constantly assault him, waging a fight for his soul.

He can carry a team like he's Babe Ruth for one month but disappear like Jimmy Hoffa the next.

Baseball is a close-knit fraternity. People still hear things. They wonder. Hamilton says he has been drug-free for seven years and two months. No one gets drug tested more than Hamilton. Yet he has had two relapses with alcohol, and even when he ventures out at night, there are whispers.

This is why it was shrewd for Hamilton and his wife to come to Nashville. Teams have questions. They want answers. And they want to look directly in his eyes and make sure he's not lying. They have to be sure.

One longtime baseball executive, whose team has no plans to pursue Hamilton, said he would ask Hamilton about the relapses. He would want Hamilton to answer why they happened. What are the assurances they won't happen again? And if it happens again, how will he handle it? Does he still need a constant support system on the road? How long does Hamilton plan to play? What exactly does he strive to become?

And, of course, why in the world would he want to leave the comforts of Texas, where he has turned around his life and is the Rangers' most popular player since Nolan Ryan?

"I hope that he'll take that into consideration," Washington said while walking down a corridor Wednesday afternoon, "but I know it's going to come down to dollars."

That never changes, does it?