At winter meetings, nothing happens until Rangers say so

• The Rangers are involved in almost every key deal in the air
• Josh Hamilton, Zack Greinke, Michael Young and Justin Upton's fates are in the balance
• Greinke needs to be the first key domino to fall in the process

It was nearly 1:30 in the morning, and Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels finally surfaced, walking into a hotel restaurant.

Perhaps no man has been busier at the annual baseball winter meetings.

Perhaps no team has been more involved with so many intriguing trade and free-agent scenarios, and now blamed for holding up the two biggest free agents on the marketplace: Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke.

"So that's what they're saying?'' Daniels said, laughing. "There's been a lot of stuff out there. Some of it's real. Some of it isn't. We'll keep going and see what happens.''

You'd think Texas was personally holding up any fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington, given its connection to virtually every other major transaction here.

The Rangers are the team keeping the Los Angeles Dodgers from signing Greinke.

The Rangers are the team keeping Hamilton in limbo

The Rangers are the team keeping the Philadelphia Phillies wondering if they can acquire third baseman Michael Young.

The Rangers have a trade offer for New York Mets Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey, but the Mets believe they can do better.

The Rangers are the centerpiece of the intriguing five-team trade involving the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, and Tampa Bay Rays.

And, unless something bizarre occurs the final day of the winter meetings, everyone will have to keep on waiting.

Daniels doubts that anything major will transpire the final day of the meetings with their team, but then again, as he says, "One telephone call can change everything.''

There are still so many unknowns, but this is the latest heading into the final hours of these winter meetings:

• The Dodgers are now openly wondering if Greinke really wants to sign with them. They're willing to give him a seven-year contract in excess of $150 million, and will out-bid anyone. Yet, the fact that Greinke has yet to sign his name, Dodgers officials are starting to believe he may want no part of Hollywood, and instead will go to Texas, where his wife is a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.
• Hamilton, who spent three days at the winter meetings, was told that the Rangers are now willing to give him a four-year contract, bumping it from a three-year commitment. Yet, while the Rangers wait for Greinke, he's waiting for a formal tender sheet, while teams like the Seattle Mariners and Phillies are lurking.
• The Rangers informed the Diamondbacks that they want right fielder Justin Upton, but won't give up All-Star shortstop Elvis Andrus or prized prospect Jurickson Profar. So the Indians have entered the mix, offering shortstop Adrubal Cabrera if the Diamondbacks part with pitchers Tyler Skaggs or Trevor Bauer. The Rays are in the mix talking about trading James Shields. And the Royals may give up top prospect Will Meyers.
• The Rangers also informed the Phillies that they are willing to move Young, and would be willing to pay a significant chunk of his remaining $16 million salary. Yet, until the Rangers figure out what's going on with all of their other moves, they can't afford to let Young go, yet.

So the wait, and suspense, continues, with baseball's eyes on Texas.

"We're working, trying to get the first one to fall,'' Daniels says. "That first domino hasn't fallen yet. Sitting here now, I can't tell you which one it will be."

Stay tuned.