Report: Cardinals made Fowler initial offer

During an explosive first day at Major League Baseball's winter meetings in Maryland on Monday - which included the signings of Mark Melancon and Rich Hill - other negotiations continued, and one of the biggest names remaining on the market received plenty of interest.

Outfielder Dexter Fowler, who apparently received a four-year offer in the $60-million range from the Toronto Blue Jays, also had the St. Louis Cardinals make his agents an initial offer Monday, according to major-league sources of FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal.

St. Louis' offer is in the same range as that of the Blue Jays, reports ESPN's Mark Saxon.

The Cardinals' interest in Fowler isn't anything new - they've already been linked to the outfielder during the offseason multiple times.

Fowler is an obvious fit with the Cardinals, who are in need of an outfielder after losing Matt Holliday to free agency, and he's an upgrade over all three of St. Louis' projected starters - Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, and Tommy Pham - in the outfield next season.

Along with the Blue Jays and Cardinals, Fowler has also reportedly received interest from the New York Yankees, and the Chicago Cubs appeared to be interested in him before signing Jon Jay.

Fowler, who hit leadoff for the World Series champion Cubs last season, slashed .276/.393/.447 to go along with 13 steals and seven triples.