Dexter Fowler returns to Cubs after deal with O’s falls through

It will be interesting to see how the Fowler signing plays out in terms of playing time. The deal reportedly calls for an $8 million base salary this season and $9 million in 2017 with a $5 million buyout.

This is fairly unprecedented, as we can not recall a situation like this occurring in recent memory, where one team reportedly had a deal done with even the players acknowledging it, and then said free agent arrives at another team’s camp with a deal officially announced on the same day he was expected to arrive at camp of a different team.

Fowler has a. 267 career average with 65 homers and 114 stolen bases in eight seasons with the Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros and Cubs.

The Cubs extended Fowler a qualifying offer of $15.8 million for one year in November before he started considering the Orioles and other teams. After a reported signing of pitcher Yovani Gallardo, Roch Kubatko of MASN reports that the O’s have a three-year deal in place with outfielder Dexter Fowler.

Fowler spent last season with the Cubs, hitting.250/.346/.411 with 17 home runs in 156 games. Early speculation on twitter is that the Cubs will go with a starting outfielder of Kyle Schwarber in left field, Fowler in center field, and Jason Heyward in right field.

Manager Joe Maddon made this statement in a press conference following the announcement of Fowler’s signing. Serving as the Cubs’ lead-off hitter, Fowler tore through big league pitching in the second half of the year, leading them on an improbable run as the team won 97 games and ultimately reached the NLCS.

Robbie Goldman wrote the original piece, as Max Wildstein provided the updated story.