LDN - Sports

CF Fowler jumps from Cubs to Cardinals

[December 10, 2016] The Sports Xchange

The St. Louis Cardinals signed former Chicago Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler to a five-year deal Friday.

The Cardinals introduced Fowler at a Friday morning news conference.

"He was always someone we were hoping to sign," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, noting the franchise has a goal of becoming more athletic, especially defensively. "After this past week at winter meetings ... we certainly wanted to get this done. And we're excited we got this done."

The deal is worth $82.5 million and includes a full no-trade clause, according to multiple reports.

Fowler said he was flattered to be considered by the Cardinals and estimated that St. Louis is not far away from catching up with the champion Cubs, who signed former Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay to fill the void in center field along with right-handed batting Albert Almora, a 22-year-old who was on Chicago's World Series roster.

Fowler, who turns 31 in March, posted a career-high .393 on-base percentage while batting leadoff for the Cubs last season. He hit .276/.393/.447 in 2016 with 13 home runs, 48 RBIs and 13 stolen bases while making his first All-Star team.

"Playing over there, and playing against the Cardinals, you see them and you saw that they weren't far away," Fowler said. "Obviously they beat up on us, we beat up on them. It was almost even. It was one day or another. I can't put my finger on one thing or another, but we're definitely close."

Fowler helped the Cubs end their 108-year title drought, hitting one homer in the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and two in the World Series against the Cleveland Indians, including one to lead off Game 7 against Cleveland ace Corey Kluber.

Fowler made $13 million in 2016, returning to the Cubs for one year only after exploring the free agent market last winter.

The Cardinals are expected to install Fowler as their leadoff hitter. Last season, Matt Carpenter topped the St. Louis lineup the majority of the time.

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"He's an exciting player, and we've seen him from the other dugout enough to realize he's the kind of player that can make a difference, especially at the top of the order," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Fowler this week. "You watch a Matt Carpenter-style at-bat -- going in and grinding and figuring out a way to get on base and figuring out what that does to an opposition, and what it does to a pitching staff, and how it elevates pitch counts, and how it does create a sense of rhythm in your offense. The more players that you can have like that, I think the better off you're going to be."

In nine major league seasons encompassing 1,064 games with the Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros and Cubs, the switch-hitting Fowler has a career .268/.366/.422 batting line with 78 homers, 339 RBIs and 127 stolen bases.

Fowler declined the Cubs' qualifying offer, meaning the Cardinals must forfeit the No. 19 pick in the 2017 draft. The Cubs will receive a compensatory pick.

"There's always the baseball angle in all decisions, but there's also the human element," Mozeliak said. "We think about him as a leader. He wants to have a voice in that clubhouse. When you think back to wanting to change the culture of what we have going on -- we like what we have, but now it's even better."

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