by BY JOE STRAUSS ¿ jstrauss@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8371 , St. Louis Post-Dispatch

During an afternoon break in Baseball's general managers' meetings, Mozeliak said he intends to contact McGwire personally or through manager Tony La Russa in the next two weeks.

The club's hope is that the former single-season home run record holder will soon address questions regarding his return to the game following a self-imposed eight-year exile. The club also recognizes McGwire will be pressed to answer questions about allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during a borderline Hall of Fame career.

"There is going to be a wide range of what people are hoping to hear," Mozeliak said. "For me, personally, we're not there yet as far as what it's going to look like. Hopefully in the next week or so we can work through that."

The Cardinals vowed at an Oct. 26 news conference announcing La Russa's return as manager and McGwire's hiring as hitting coach that McGwire would face media at some point "sooner than later." However, McGwire has not yet spoken publicly about his decision to replace Hal McRae as the team's hitting coach. A winter phone list distributed among clubhouse personnel also failed to list McGwire's home number.

Mozeliak said Tuesday that he has not spoken with McGwire since his hire, but some within the organization had hoped McGwire's coming-out would occur before Thanksgiving. That prospect is complicated by an expectation that Adam Wainwright or Chris Carpenter will be named NL Cy Young Award winner Nov. 19 and first baseman Albert Pujols will win his third NL MVP on Nov. 24.

"Clearly my energy is focused on players and looking at how to improve our 2010 team," Mozeliak said shortly before entering an hour-long meeting with Scott Boras, agent for free agent left fielder Matt Holliday. "Understanding that, the McGwire situation has to be recognized. I don't have a timetable yet when we're going to do things or how we're going to do them. But it's not something we're ignoring or hoping will go away."

Mozeliak acknowledged that the manner in which McGwire's hiring leaked has complicated the process.

The Cardinals hoped to cloak McGwire's hiring for at least another two weeks; however, the move became public when McRae's son, Brian, disclosed the move on his social network account. "It obviously went quickly, probably quicker than I anticipated given that his name was floating out there," Mozeliak said. "At the press conference, our intentions weren't to deal with it that day. We were hopeful we could have done something a little later in the month after the World Series.

"Given it was there, we had to address it. It's out there now. In hindsight, if we could have handled it a little differently we would have. But now we'll just start looking forward."

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