SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. • The deadline to present players a qualifying offer came and went Monday, and with it so did Brandon Moss.

This past week, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told reporters that he was likely not going to exercise a qualifying offer on the slugger, allowing Moss to reach free agency free of a draft pick to slow him down. Mozeliak did exactly that Monday by not making a move before the deadline and allow Moss to follow Matt Holliday and Jordan Walden into free agency. Jerome Williams will also become a free agent as the market opens.

A qualifying offer this season is set at $17.2 million, and there was a sense within the Cardinals that Moss would accept that deal.

The Cardinals have the payroll to stomach such a contract, especially on a one-year deal, though Moss' place in the roster would not be certain. He could be a fall back option for left field. He could be a part-time player at first, left, and right, and he could be a bat off the bench. Either way, the Cardinals opted not to risk him accepting the offer and limiting the direction they want to go this winter in reshaping the look of their outfield, their roster, and their clubhouse.

The Cardinals have talked often this winter about "new voices."