In a move that came a year too late for many Cubs fans, the team on Monday cut ties with troubled shortstop Addison Russell, deciding not to offer the arbitration-eligible player a 2020 contract at Major League Baseball’s deadline for tendering contracts to unsigned players under club control.
Russell, a 2016 All-Star whose performance declined during a lengthy domestic violence investigation by MLB that began in 2017, eventually served a 40-game suspension that began in September 2018 and continued through the first month of 2019.
Team president Theo Epstein, who drew significant backlash from a vocal sector of fans a year ago when he made the decision to keep Russell into the 2019 season, suggested in a statement that Monday’s decision was a baseball decision only.
“We decided to non-tender Addison Russell today simply because the role we expected him to play for the 2020 Cubs was inconsistent with how he would have been treated in the salary arbitration process,” Epstein said.
Russell, who made $3.7 million in 2019 after earning $300,000 over his base salary in roster bonuses, hit a career-low .237 in 82 games, with nine home runs and a .699 OPS.
“In the year since we decided to tender Addison a contract last November, he has lived up to his promise to put in the important self-improvement work necessary off the field and has shown growth as a person, as a partner, as a parent and as a citizen,” Epstein said in his statement. “We hope and believe that Addison’s work and growth will continue, and we have offered our continued support of him and his family, including Melisa.”
Melisa, Russell’s ex-wife, outlined abusive behavior by Russell in social media posts that led to the suspension.
A year ago, Epstein called Russell’s return “conditional” upon meeting a list of criteria, including regular therapy beyond that mandated by MLB.
“In the last year, the organization has also put in the important work necessary to bolster our domestic violence prevention training for all employees, all major league players, all minor league players and all staff,” Epstein continued in Monday’s statement. “We also offered healthy relationship workshops for the players’ partners and provided intensive, expert domestic violence prevention training for player-facing staff. This heightened training and our increased community involvement on the urgent issue of domestic violence prevention will continue indefinitely.
“We wish Addison and his family well.”
Russell, 25, missed two weeks in September after being hit in the head by a pitch in Milwaukee, allowing the Cubs to save $100,000 in a final roster bonus by making an otherwise unnecessary injured list move a week after the beaning.
After returning, Russell talked during the final homestand about the possibility he could be non-tendered or traded before 2020, saying he wanted to stay in Chicago but recognized the potential benefit of a change of scenery.
“You could look at this a lot of different ways,” said Russell, who was demoted to the minors twice during the season. “The grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side.
“Wherever my path may go then I’ll adjust,” he added. “And I’ll just let God have the handlebars.”
Russell and pitcher Danny Hultzen were the Cubs’ only players who were non-tendered at Monday’s deadline. Hultzen was not yet arbitration-eligible.
All of the Cubs’ other arbitration-eligible players were tendered: Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Willson Contreras, Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Ryan.
Also, recently acquired pitcher Jharel Cotton agreed to terms on a $640,000 contract for 2020.
The Cubs now have four openings on their 40-man roster.
