Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak and Scott Boras met for 90 minutes on Sunday night, but the meeting "failed to produce" a formal contract offer for Matt Holliday.
Mozeliak stresses that the club's recent agreement with Brad Penny should not be seen as a sign that the Cardinals are giving up their pursuit of Holliday. However, the general manager did concede to the fact that there is a "gulf" between the Cardinals and Boras.
For now, the Cardinals will look at anywhere from three to five alternatives to Holliday as they wait, including retaining Mark DeRosa. The Cards don't plan to wait around forever though. Says Mozeliak:
"I think we will be patient with Holliday to start… But we're not going to take this deep into the winter. In fairness, they need to get clarity where other clubs see this going."
Mozeliak described the talks as preliminary, but as Strauss points out, chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. attended, which could signal that finances were discussed. For the time being, the Cardinals can wait for the market for Holliday to develop more. However, given that Mozeliak has said one alternative to Holliday will be to focus more on pitching, it seems like they can't wait around too long, or all of their best options will be off the table.
