CHICAGO — The Cubs on Friday tendered a contract to suspended shortstop Addison Russell, who is eligible for arbitration.
Russell, 25, will miss the first month of the season after accepting a 40-game suspension late in 2018 after his ex-wife accused him of domestic abuse in a blog post. From the start, the Cubs have said they want to see Russell get help while also being a positive force on the issue.
Though the Cubs tendered him a contract for next year, it still doesn’t mean Russell will suit up for them again. The move on Friday simply prevented Russell, who made $4.3 million last season, from becoming a free agent.
Russell issued a statement Friday offering his “heartfelt apology” to his family, his ex-wife and the team for “letting them down” with his past behavior.
“Since accepting my suspension, I’ve had time to reflect on my past behavior and think about the next steps I need to take to grow as a person,” Russell said. “… I am just in the early stages of this process. It is work that goes far beyond being a baseball player — it goes to my core values of being the best family man, partner, and teammate that I can be, and giving back to the community and the less fortunate.
“While there is a lot of work ahead for me to earn back the trust of the Cubs fans, my teammates, and the entire organization, it’s work that I am 110 percent committed to doing.”
Russell said he’s taken responsibility for his actions, has complied with the MLB-MLBPA treatment plan, has sought out therapy on his own and has met with Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and president Theo Epstein.
“This incident happened on our watch,” Epstein said earlier this month. “Domestic violence is everyone’s problem and this did happen on our watch so we have to be part of the solution.”
Abuse issues in his former marriage surfaced via social media in 2017, but the case didn’t come to a head until Russell’s ex-wife detailed the abuse late last season and then met with MLB investigators.
The team is monitoring Russell’s progress as he’s been in counseling as part of his deal with the league. The Cubs want to see ‘self-improvement.’
“We take credit when players grow up and experience great success,” Epstein said. “When a player has something in their life that goes in the other direction, or does something you’re not proud of, does that mean you should automatically cut bait and move on and have it someone else’s problem or society’s problem?
“Or do you explore the possibility of staying connected to that player with the hope of rehabilitation, including a lot of verification along the way. I think these are difficult things to wrestle with but I’m not so sure the answer is simply to cast a player aside and hope that someone else performs that work or that work takes place at all.”