DALLAS -- The Cardinals and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek will part ways after they were unable to agree to terms on a new contract Wednesday. St. Louis will not offer Grudzielanek arbitration, preventing them from negotiating with him until May of next season.

A late-winter signing, Grudzielanek turned in a fine year with the Redbirds, putting up a .294/.334/.407 (batting average/on-base/slugging) line in the field and helping the team set a franchise record for double plays. Manager Tony La Russa touted him for a Gold Glove Award, though he finished behind three-time winner Luis Castillo in the annual voting.

Grudzielanek expressed a desire to come back to St. Louis. However, the Cardinals had an amount slotted to sign a second baseman -- believed to be approximately $2 million -- and Grudzielanek is expected to command more than that on the open market.

"He's earned a good payday," said La Russa. "Can we afford that payday? Maybe two weeks from now, a month from now. But it's dangerous to make a decision like that and take money out of the pot and then find out that we don't have enough for the pitching. Unfortunately, it's just the reality. If we don't pitch, Mark could have an MVP season and we might not be good enough. So we take care of the pitching first and a lot of guys may have to wait."

Unfortunately, there was no time to wait. The deadline for teams to offer arbitration to their free agents is Wednesday at 11 p.m. CT, and players not offered arbitration cannot re-sign until May 1. Grudzielanek had a clause in his contract that prevented the Cardinals from offering him arbitration.

"Grud loved the fans, the team, the manager and the city and wishes everyone well," said his agent, Seth Levinson. "It is shameful that he won't be back. It is unfortunate that the Cardinals allocated a hard cap to a position instead of taking character and performance into consideration.

"It is a testament to [general manager Walt Jocketty] and Tony to be so hugely successful despite the radical roster turnover every year."