We take a quick look back at a depth outfielder I was once moderately excited about, but who performed as a replacement level depth option.
How Acquired
Stuart was acquired right at the beginning of the season, as the Braves traded cash to the Reds for him. He was a nice depth option for what I’m assuming was a trivial cost. The Braves traded him to the Rays for cash mid-season, presumably recouping some of whatever paltry amount they traded for him originally.
What were the expectations
Expectations
were fairly good, as much as they can be for a clear depth piece anyway. I recall liking the addition a decent bit, as he graded out a a pretty good defender and a bat that wasn’t starter-level but wouldn’t kill you at a below average level.
2025 Results
Fairchild played pretty much exactly like his profile would indicate, as an above average defender and a below average but not catastrophic hitter. He only appeared in 28 games and collected 55 plate appearances, but he played his role as a depth outfielder with some defense and some speed on the bases adequately. His strikeout and walk rates were right in line with his career averages, although his power production lagged behind his career norms in the tiny sample. He was a perfectly reasonable depth outfielder, who really was the fourth or fifth outfielder on the roster, behind Eli White.
What went right?
He had a few nice extra base hits and his speedy baserunning helped out as a hitter and pinch-runner on occasion, featuring at number 4 in our “10 most important hits of 2025 for the Atlanta Braves” (by WPA) piece. This also isn’t anything spectacular, but he largely played exactly as you would expect from his profile and there is something to be said for getting what you expect to get out of a player in terms of performance.
What went wrong?
He got a bit unlucky in underproducing his xwOBA, which made his offensive production the worst of any season in his career, outside of his 17 PA 2021. He only got 55 plate appearances in 2025, however, so you would almost expect some level of divergence from expected production in a sample that small. His xwOBA was also the worst of his career outside of 2021, so overall his offensive production was a little below what we might have hoped for and/or expected. Not hitting any home runs was a major part of that lesser offensive production, though again, it was a tiny sample.
This goes beyond the scope of his Atlanta tenure, but Stuart did not appear for the Rays after they traded for him and spent the last couple months of the season on the IL with an oblique injury.
2026 Outlook
Fairchild is currently a free agent, after being DFA’d by Tampa Bay at the end of the season and electing free agency. We’ll have to hope Stuart can come back from his oblique injury healthy this offseason, but there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t be able to get himself a minor league deal or Spring Training invite from someone, perhaps even a small major league contract. He’s still 29, so he shouldn’t be on much of a decline, if any, and he still graded out as quite fast in 2025, with an 86th percentile sprint speed. I imagine he will be at least competitive to pick up a roster spot on some team’s 26-man roster as a serviceable depth outfielder who can play some defense and be a useful pinch-running option.
