Unheralded Guardians outfielder ranked as 'dark horse' to make Opening Day roster 

For most of the offseason, the Cleveland Guardians didn’t touch their lineup. While they made addition after addition to their bullpen, they largely left their position player group alone outside of some smaller moves to cut players off the roster. 

But in December, they finally struck for an addition — albeit in a way that flew under the radar. With free agent hitters flying off the board ahead of the holidays, the Guardians inked Stuart Fairchild to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training. 

Not exactly the most exciting signing in the world. 

But just because Fairchild isn’t a household name doesn’t mean that there isn’t a way for him to help the Guardians thanks to his speed, defensive versatility and offensive profile. 

In fact, we got another reminder of just how good of a fit he could be with the Guardians over the weekend when MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins picked Fairchild as a “dark horse” candidate to make the Guardians’ Opening Day roster. 

Stuart Fairchild could end up making the Guardians’ Opening Day roster out of spring training 

It’s easy to see how Fairchild could help the Guardians considering Cleveland’s outfield was among the league’s worst last season. 

While he won’t turn things around, he has a .746 career OPS against lefties, added some right-handed balance to the Guardians’ roster and can play all three outfield positions. 

He may just be a fourth outfielder, but he’s the kind of fourth outfielder that winning teams have. 

There’s also a relatively clear path for him to make the roster, though it did get a little more complicated thanks to the team signing Rhys Hoskins. 

Fairchild would need to be added to both the Guardians’ 40 and 26-man rosters, but they could easily free up a spot on both of those by designating outfielder Johnathan Rodríguez for assignment. 

The Guardians held Rodríguez on their roster all offseason because he provides some right-handed thumb, but his major league output has left a lot to be desired (.176 average in 44 games). 

Although there are plenty of young players with options the Guardians could send down to the minors to make room for Fairchild on the 40-man roster, jettisoning Rodríguez off the roster would be an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. 

Although it may seem like the Guardians complicated their roster picture by adding Hoskins on a minor league deal that will require some kind of roster maneuvering, they showed their hand in that regard earlier in the offseason by signing Fairchild to a minor league deal. 

Now it seems like both players have great chances to be with the Guardians when they open the season in Seattle at the end of March.