ST. LOUIS _ When Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak outlined the traits he wanted to find in a new outfielder this winter, it became a long list that included on-base percentage, baserunning, agility in center field, a clubhouse presence, and on and on.
It could have been two words long: Dexter Fowler.
"From Day 1, he was who we were hoping to sign," he said.
The question for the Cardinals entering this winter wasn't which free agent fit their need best but whether they could lure him to St. Louis, onto their team. On Friday, after an intensifying week of discussions, they did.
Fowler, 30, signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the team, one finalized by a physical he passed Friday. A source confirmed the contract's value to the Post-Dispatch. The deal includes a no-trade clause. Fowler was presented as the team's new leadoff hitter during a press conference at Busch Stadium. Mozeliak presented him with his jersey, which will be No. 25.
"At the end of the day you go with your gut feeling," Fowler explained. "And this was my gut feeling."
Fowler led the majors as a leadoff hitter with a .393 on-base percentage. He opened Game 7 of the World Series with a home run, and he followed it with two more hits in that game. The Cubs widely heralded Fowler as the ignition switch for their lineup and the player that made them go _ "You go, we go," is how Cubs manager Joe Maddon expressed it to him _ by getting on base and taking third on a single and keying a fundamentally sound team.
Fowler has a lot of the traits the Cardinals were missing in 2016, the same traits that helped drive the Cubs to their first World Series championship since 1908.
"We wanted to address athleticism, we wanted to address someone who could hit at the top of the order to give us flexibility with (Matt) Carpenter, and we were also looking to find someone who was extremely competent on the basepaths," Mozeliak said. "I think we were able to accomplish that."
Fowler was introduced to the St. Louis media while flanked by Mozeliak on his left and manager Mike Matheny on his right.
He flew in Thursday night from Las Vegas and was set to return to his home there Friday, though as he left the ballpark said he would be back, would be around the city, and stressed that he wanted to be a part of the community.
"It was an honor just to be even considered, to be in the Cardinals organization," said Fowler, who spent the past two years at Wrigley Field. "I've been playing against them for eight years now. They always coming out fighting. They're always fighting. Playing as their rival, being with the Cubs, and playing them however many times we play them a year _ you see them and it's always good that a winning team wants you."
On his flight, he experienced a bit of Cardinals Nation. He was trying to sleep on the flight when a fellow passenger, who had logged onto Wi-Fi to read the news of Fowler signing with the Cardinals, approached him to ask if it was true. Fowler tried to play coy and steal a few more winks.
By the time he landed the surprise was over.
Fowler called the Cardinals "close" to his most recent team, the archival Cubs, in terms of contending for the division title.
"You always hope so," Fowler said of being the piece that pushes them ahead. "I can't tell you what the future has to hold. I feel like this team has a chance to win a World Series, and that was a big part in coming back. Winning is addictive."
Fowler is coming off a one-year deal with the Cubs that he chose ahead of a multi-year deal with Baltimore. Fowler bet on his ability to build his value, and it paid off with a World Series ring and the largest contract ever from the Cardinals to a free agent from outside the organization. The previous high belonged to Mike Leake ($80 million) and Jhonny Peralta for a position player ($53 million).
Fowler is the first player to wear No. 25 since Mark McGwire.
Fowler explained that he chose the jersey because of his friendship with Barry Bonds, who has been a workout partner and mentor for him as a hitter.
