By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | December 8, 2016, 6:24 pm CT
Image: Chicago Cubs / Twitter
Last updated at 8:22 pm CT:
Hours after the Cardinals front office left the Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Md, without the acquisition of an outfielder, the team has agreed to a deal with free agent center fielder Dexter Fowler, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports.
Fowler arrived in St. Louis Thursday evening and will take a physical for the club before the signing is finalized and announced, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reports.
That announcement is expected to be made at a press conference around noon on Friday, according to KMOX Sports.
Fowler, 30, is coming off a strong season in which he hit .276 with 13 home runs, 48 RBI, and 13 stolen bases while batting leadoff for the World Series Champion Cubs. He’ll likely slide into the leadoff spot for the redbirds, with Matt Carpenter shifting down to the third spot in the lineup.
Fowler is also expected to start in center field, with Randal Grichuk shifting to left and Stephen Piscotty handling right.
There’s no word yet on the details of a contract, although sources told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the team made an “over-the-top offer … to be sure to land” Fowler.
The second-ranked outfielder on the free agent market this offseason, Fowler was initially projected by MLB Trade Rumors to land a four-year, $64 million contract this offseason.
More to come on this breaking story.
