After helping the Chicago Cubs break the curse in 2016, Dexter Fowler has found a new home. He and the St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a multi-year contract, per reports. Terms were not immediately available.
Dexter Fowler has a deal with #STLCards. Expected to be big.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2016
Cardinals Sign Dexter Fowler
Fowler hit .276/.393/.447 with the Cubs in 2016 with 13 homers and 13 stolen bags. He made his first NL All-Star appearance and amassed and .840 OPS. His second season with the club came after a strange offseason in which he was going to the Baltimore Orioles, until he didn’t.
The 30-year-old center fielder made his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies in 2008. He played in Denver until he was traded to the Houston Astros in December of 2013. He’s been very consistent over his career. A skipper can pencil him in for .260-.280, 10-15 homers, and 10-20 stolen bags just about every year. The defensive metrics, however haven’t been kind to him, as he sits at -55 DRS for his career.
With the Cubs signing Jon Jay and having Albert Almora, it was probably a foregone conclusion that Fowler wasn’t in the club’s plans moving forward. With Kyle Schwarber coming back for a full 2017 season, the outfield was becoming a bit crowded (even with the recent trade of Jorge Soler).
As for the Cardinals, the hope is Fowler can bring his consistent bat to the center field position. With Randal Grichuk (.240/.289/.480) bouncing between Triple-A and the Majors last season, and the loss of Matt Holliday, Fowler can give them a solid bat at the top of the order and one less thing for Mike Matheny to worry about. Though Fowler has mediocre power and hits at about league average, he gets on base at a rapid clip. While he was with Chicago, the saying was as he went, the Cubs went. The Cardinals will hope that on-base ability will help them get back into the postseason.
UPDATE 12/9
The contract will run for five years and will pay Fowler $82.5 million. It contains a full no-trade clause
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