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BenFred: Cardinals maintain quiet stance on Harper as they depart winter meetings

LAS VEGAS • In need of a respite from Winter Meetings on Wednesday morning, Cardinals general manager Michael Girsch laced up his running shoes and swapped the soft carpet of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for the pavement of Las Vegas Boulevard.

He just wanted to feel real sunlight and fill his lungs with air that did not contain traces of the cigarette smoke that tends to escape the casino.

The jog went great, until Girsch realized the disadvantage of desert mornings in mid-December.

Speculation on the sluggishness ranged from the unreliable cell phone service in the resort tower assigned to team officials, to the rumblings of growing tension between players who want to see salaries grow and owners who are becoming more and more aligned with analytics that warn against overpaying.