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Cardinals, Fowler finalize 5-year, $82.5M deal

Derrick Goold/Twitter

Dexter Fowler bet on himself, and it paid off.

After rejecting a three-year, $33-million offer from the Baltimore Orioles last offseason, Fowler instead made a career-altering decision to sign a one-year, $13-million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

A year later, he was introduced as he inked a five-year, $82.5-million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, which includes a no-trade clause.

Fowler will sport No. 25 to honor his mentor, Barry Bonds, making him the first Cardinals player to wear the number since Mark McGwire.

"This team has a chance to win the World Series, and that was a big part of coming," he said, according to MLB Network. "Winning is addictive."

YEAR GP 2B HR SB AVG/OBP/SLG
2016 125 25 13 13 .276/.393/.447
2015 156 29 17 20 .250/.346/.411
2014 116 21 8 11 .276/.375/.399
2013 119 18 12 19 .263/.369/.407

Rejecting the Orioles' offer meant Fowler needed to have a career year in order to impress suitors as a free agent. He did just that, becoming an All-Star and winning the World Series for the first time in his nine-year career.

That said, the 30-year-old knows that if it didn't work out as planned, then so be it.

"I believe God has a plan for me," he said, as per Mark Gonzales from the Chicago Tribune. "If it wasn't in the cards, it wasn't in the cards."

The Toronto Blue Jays were reportedly in on the Fowler sweepstakes, offering him a contract in the $60-million range. Instead, he decided to leave the Cubs for a division rival.

"It will be weird, but I guess they're our rivals now," Fowler said of the Cubs, according to Gonzales. "They're still my boys, but we're out here to win.

"At the end of the day, you go with your gut feeling, and this was my gut feeling."

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