It has become readily, irrefutably evident Tuesday evening that free-agent outfielder Josh Hamilton still has not signed with the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are thought to have some degree of interest in the middle-of-the-order slugger, and the rest of his market is presently unclear. The Rangers are considered a possible favorite to get Hamilton to put pen to paper, as they failed to sign Zack Greinke and also failed to acquire James Shields. Hamilton, to date, has not signed with anybody. He remains an unsigned free agent.
Asked for comment, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik would say "we're evaluating all of our options and at the end of the day, it takes two to tango, and we have a number of irons in the fire," probably. Asked for comment on why people ever ask him for comment, Zduriencik replied "no idea," demonstrating unusual candor.
Asked whether Hamilton is rapidly approaching a decision point, a philosopher remarked that of course Hamilton is approaching a decision point, but no faster or slower than anyone else, since we all move forward in time at the same rate. Hamilton is drawing closer to a decision because there exists a decision in his future, and one may advance only into the future. The philosopher continued, saying that, if there were evidence that Hamilton were going back in time, his answer would have been the exact opposite.
Hamilton's camp would probably issue no comment, except that Hamilton is taking everything under consideration, and he has faith, and he hasn't dismissed the possibility of returning to Texas, where he's had a great career and developed great relationships. Asked for meaningful comment, nobody involved or thought to be involved would say anything, on the record.
Expectations are that eventually Hamilton will sign a contract with a team that covers multiple years. That team could be the Rangers, or the Mariners, or somebody else. Hamilton can make a decision pretty much whenever he damn well pleases, and it isn't up to Hamilton to make things maximally convenient. Hamilton could sign before Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, or after them. He probably will not sign simultaneously with them. That would be incredible.
In conclusion, with regard to the Josh Hamilton sweepstakes, the latest public developments are nothing.