CHICAGO — The St. Louis Cardinals returned home from baseball’s general managers’ meetings Wednesday afternoon much as they had left two days earlier — still wondering about the timeline for free-agent left fielder Matt Holliday’s decision whether to return or bolt after three months with the franchise.

As general manager John Mozeliak returned to St. Louis with assistant John Abbamondi, Holliday’s agent, Scott Boras, remained at the O’Hare Hilton to further cultivate a market for his client during a meeting with Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein.
The Red Sox continue to pursue their own free-agent left fielder, Jason Bay, but apparently have interest in Holliday if talks with Bay go nowhere.
Mozeliak classified his three days as productive but accomplished only half his preliminary goal. Now that he has met with Boras, Mozeliak says he still hopes to engage Holliday in a face-to-face meeting.
“That hasn’t changed,” said Mozeliak. “I’d still like to have the opportunity to sit down and talk to him about where we’re coming from. Ideally, that could happen sometime in the near future but right now I can’t say how that might work.”
The Cardinals are well aware of Boras’ tendency to hold out his most marketable client well into the offseason. Last winter’s prize free agent, first baseman Mark Teixeira, waited until January to sign an eight-year, $180 million deal with the New York Yankees. Boras is unlikely to move on Holliday until Bay’s situation plays out. The Red Sox’s priority is to keep Bay, but it now appears likely he will take outside offers when the market opens Nov. 20.
Mozeliak insisted the club has made no formal offer for Holliday, whose impact has been likened to Teixeira. Mozeliak reiterated after meeting with Boras that the Cardinals would probably make an offer that allows for little improvement. In other words, they remain leery of entering a bidding war that could include the Red Sox, New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants. Despite early claims by general manager Brian Cashman to the contrary, the New York Yankees are also considered a potential player.
“I think it’s fair to say when we present an offer, that’s pretty much going to be our position,” Mozeliak said. “We’re not really interested in becoming involved in a long, drawn-out back-and-forth.”
Boras made clear Tuesday that he believes the Cardinals fully capable of playing in the same financial arena as so-called large market clubs, even chiding any description of the NL Central champions as “mid-market.”
Aware of Boras’ comments to reporters, Mozeliak played down their impact.
“I tend to go more on what is said during our meeting than what I read or hear through the media,” said Mozeliak, who classified Tuesday afternoon’s session as positive.
Boras’ timeline may well conflict with the Cardinals’. Though Mozeliak and a number of his fellow general managers envision a slow-developing market, the Cardinals insist they will not be held hostage by their pursuit of Holliday.
“I would think we’d have to know where we stand reasonably soon,” Mozeliak said earlier this week, though he allowed that his next substantive conversation with Boras may wait until the run-up to next month’s winter meetings in Indianapolis. Mozeliak did not offer a timetable for when the club may make an offer.
“It’s not something from our standpoint that can get strung out,” he said.
The Cardinals last year employed a similar tactic with free-agent closer Brian Fuentes, offering him a two-year, $16 million deal with significant deferred money during the winter meetings in Las Vegas. The club withdrew its bid when it became clear that Fuentes was waiting for a bid from the Angels, for whom he preferred to play.
The Cardinals’ offseason hinges on Holliday.
Should Holliday return, the club is prepared to give rookie David Freese first chance to win the vacant third-base job. If Holliday defects, the Cardinals may seek a more proven player at third base. (The Cardinals were not among the teams to express interest in free-agent Chone Figgins during the meetings.)
Another Cardinals free agent, Mark DeRosa, is expected to receive heavy play because of his versatility and his availability for a short-term deal.
DeRosa, who turns 35 in February, is two weeks removed from surgery to repair a tendon sheath near his left wrist. He still intrigues the Cardinals but may fit more neatly as an alternative in left field than at third base, where he played almost exclusively for them after his June acquisition from the Cleveland Indians.
Unanticipated events could also be a factor. The Red Sox are believed interested in San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Should they pull off such a deal, they would probably shift Kevin Youkilis to third base and make veteran Mike Lowell available for trade. Like most teams, the Cardinals are also interested in what players may become available following next month’s deadline to tender contracts.
The Cardinals remain intrigued by outfield prospect Allen Craig, their recently named minor league player of the year, but concede any arrangement employing Freese as the regular third baseman argues against another rookie receiving heavy exposure in the outfield.
Mozeliak said earlier this week that a failure to land Holliday may lead the club to fortify its rotation rather than trying to replace their cleanup hitter’s production. Mozeliak indicated Wednesday that such an approach is unlikely to involve pursuing the market’s top starting pitcher, John Lackey.