The Cardinals have 15 days all to themselves to woo Matt Holliday, the free-agent outfielder the club publicly has called a "high priority" to re-sign. But the Cardinals are pragmatic about the real value of an eleventh-hour sales pitch before Holliday and the other free agents hit the open market in two weeks.

That's what the previous three months were for.

"We need to spend some time with Matt and his agent and share what our vision is, what we have to offer, and at some point I'm sure we will," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. "But at the same time, that's part of why we traded for him, to get him here, and at some point you'd think he has a pretty good idea of what we have to offer. ... Most players, if they haven't agreed to terms at this point, it means they are working their way to the open market."

With the final pitch of the World Series on Wednesday night, the 15-day period for players to file as free agents began Thursday. Holliday filed immediately, and the Cardinals and his agent, Scott Boras, both expect Holliday to reach the open market 14 days from today. Eight other Cardinals, not including released reliever Brad Thompson, are eligible for free agency. Mark DeRosa has expressed a wish to test the open market, and pitcher John Smoltz, while sharing a mutual interest in a return to the Cardinals, has said he doesn't expect to sign until later in the offseason.

The Cardinals have maintained dialogue with the representatives for several of their free agents, including Smoltz, but Mozeliak said he doesn't expect hasty resolutions before free agency starts. That is especially true with Holliday.

"I don't think that is our pace to set," he said.

The next two weeks offer clubs such as the Cardinals the exclusive right to negotiate with their own free agents, but that doesn't limit the 29 other teams from talking to all free agents once they've filed. During this period, every team can talk length of contract, clubhouse culture, school system, alternate-jersey colors, cost of living — whatever they want but financial terms.

Only the original club can talk cash.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Angels exploited the 15-day window by completing a two-year, $19 million deal with All-Star outfielder Bobby Abreu. For the most part, such deals are rare. Officials and a few agents contacted described the window as valuable time teams can use to lay groundwork for deals — but rarely to complete them.

"It is an opportunity for the club to put its best offer on the table, before the bidding process begins," said Joe Urbon, who represents All-Star outfielder Jason Bay. The Boston Red Sox have stated an interest in re-signing the left fielder, even reportedly offering an extension before the end of the regular season.

"The reality is, it's rare for a player and a club to come to an agreement during this period," Urbon continued. "That said, our intention is to listen to the Red Sox during this window. But if time runs out on getting a deal done and the bidding process begins, I am very confident the Red Sox will continue their pursuit of Jason and Jason will continue to be interested."

Holliday and Bay represent the tip of a top-heavy free-agent class that is short of surefire impact bats, the kind of which the Cardinals crave. Beyond the two left fielders, there is Vladimir Guerrero, who is in the waning years of his career, and three New York Yankees outfielders — Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady. There are a few options dangling out there for Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford, LA Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez and Arizona pitcher Brandon Webb that would change the landscape of the free-agent talent.

Mozeliak acknowledged a need to work parallel tracks to be sure the Cardinals don't get caught all-in on Holliday. He declined to talk specific targets. It's likely the Cardinals will keep tabs on the Bay sweepstakes even while focusing on Holliday.

Holliday's agent, Boras, has described his client as a "franchise player" and is therefore deserving of a franchise player's contract. Boras has talked about Holliday commanding what Gold Glove first baseman Mark Teixeira got from the Yankees — eight years, $180 million. Any deal also will include a no-trade clause, Boras said. The industry expectation is for Holliday to come closer to a six-year deal. With an extension for Albert Pujols also a goal of the Cardinals, Holliday could test the club's ability to stomach a $100 million deal and an even wealthier one for Pujols. Cardinals' officials insist no formal offer has been made to Holliday.

"It's a market that provides opportunity," Mozeliak said of the coming free-agent pool. "What we experienced this past year is we traded a lot of players to put together our team for 2009. We're not working from the same reserve we had. We have to look at this (free-agent market) as our chance to improve our club. We've never relied on the free-agent market completely to do that, but we want to make sure we don't miss any opportunity."

DeRosa, coming off wrist surgery, figures to field an offer from the Chicago Cubs, at the least. He and Chone Figgins are two of the best utility players in the game, and both are free agents. The other Cardinals free agents are righthander Todd Wellemeyer, center fielder Rick Ankiel, shortstop Khalil Greene, third baseman Troy Glaus, backup catcher Jason LaRue, and starter Joel Piņeiro, who hits free agency after a career year.

Last year's free-agent market was slow to develop partially because of the economic chill, one that is still sending shivers through some clubs. Boras is famous for slow-playing his top client, in this case Holliday, and luring the big-market clubs into the bidding. The interest in Holliday is certain to influence the interest in Bay, and vice versa.

"We know that if Bay reaches free agency, a number of additional clubs will be bidding for his services," Urbon said. "Big-market clubs. Small-market clubs. East Coast and West Coast clubs. Clubs who believe they are one impact player away from reaching the World Series and clubs who believe they are one impact player away from winning their division. Certainly, where Bay ends up at the end of this process is anyone's guess."

Unless it happens in the next two weeks.

There is only one team that can pull that off — Boston.

The expectation around baseball, however, is that only when this 15-day window closes will the view of the market for the free agents start gaining clarity. That, several Cardinals officials said, is how they see the courtship of Holliday developing.

"I think the other side will know who is out there and interested," Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. "So there's a little more clarity than there is right now. I don't know how that plays out. Some of the bigger free agents with Scott have always taken longer. ... We'll see."