Cubs' Fowler Heads To Cardinals

By ESPN

Dexter Fowler is switching teams in the National League Central.

A little more than month after leading the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years, the free-agent center fielder agreed to a deal with the rival Cardinals on Thursday, a source told ESPN's Mark Saxon, confirming a story first reported by KSDK-TV.

St. Louis has scheduled an 11 a.m. ET news conference Friday.

On Thursday, the Cardinals left the winter meetings near Washington, D.C., intent on finding a center fielder after trade talks proved fruitless because of the team's lack of high-end prospects.

It's believed the Cardinals had discussions with the Chicago White Sox about Adam Eaton before he was shipped to the Washington Nationals for a trio of highly regarded pitching prospects.

The Cardinals' primary goal entering the offseason was to become more athletic and better defensively.

Fowler's arrival likely means Randal Grichuk will move to left field and leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter will become the Cardinals' No. 3 hitter.

Terms of Fowler's deal with St. Louis were not immediately known.

It came as no surprise Fowler turned down his mutual option with Chicago; he was seen as grossly underpaid for his performance in the team's World Series triumph. Fowler made $13 million in 2016, returning to the Cubs for one year only after exploring the free-agent market last winter and finding it unsatisfactory. After producing an on-base percentage of .393 in 2016 and hitting 13 home runs -- in addition to a World Series Game 7 blast -- Fowler was due a big payday.

He also was credited with playing better defense in 2016, after he and the team agreed he should play deeper. The result was a plus-1 in defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs. In 2015, Fowler was minus-12.

But Fowler's biggest contributions came at the top of the order, where Cubs manager Joe Maddon used to say to him, "You go, we go." Fowler's first-inning on-base percentage in 2016 was .479. He was truly the ignition to the Cubs' offense throughout his two years with the team.