Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Tuesday that he had spoken to Luis Robert, the much-sought-after, 19-year-old Cuban outfielder who is a free agent and likely to sign this month with a major-league club.

Mozeliak said Robert doesn’t speak English and that he himself doesn’t speak Spanish. But there was an interpreter involved when the two met in the Dominican Republic, and Mozeliak remains hopeful the Cardinals will be in the ballpark for the final bidding on Robert.

“It’s hard for me to characterize exactly how I would position ourselves,” said Mozeliak, “but I definitely felt like our scouts in our international department have done a good job. "

PONCEDELEON UPDATE

Mozeliak said he expected Memphis pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon, hit in the head by a line drive nine days ago in Des Moines, Iowa, probably would remain in the hospital for another week and then might transition into a rehabilitation center before even being cleared to travel.

“Certainly he’s still dealing with some head trauma and in terms of what the doctors are saying it’s really sort of like every day is like a new benchmark,” said Mozeliak. “But they’re optimistic that he will come through.”

CARDINALS' JERSEYS