As expected, the Cubs have tendered a contract to Addison Russell, meaning the two sides have until February to work out a salary for 2019, or go to arbitration to settle. However, in today's statement by the club, Theo Epstein once again expressed his feelings of wanting to help Russell, but also didn't guarantee the shortstop would stay with the Cubs in the future.
Russell also issued a statement today and apologized to his ex-wife, acknowledging for the first time what he was responsible for.
Here are both Epstein's and Russell's statements.
Here's the exact quote from Epstein addressing Russell's future with the Cubs.
If the Cubs had non-tendered Russell he would have immediately become a free agent. Russell was suspended 40 games after the 2018 season for violating the league's domestic violence policy. MLB spoke with Melissa Reidy, Russell's former wife, and other witnesses as part of their investigation into allegations posted on her blog and previously by a friend on social media in 2017. It's a sensitive issue and of course the outcome everyone should want is for Russell to learn from his atrocious behavior and actions and never repeat them again. Epstein appears to be sincere in trying to be part of the solution, but again we are talking about a business here. Despite the suspension, the Cubs are looking to build any trade value for Russell, who's 24 and two years removed from a 21 home run season. By tendering a contract this gives the Cubs more time to possibly work out a trade for Russell, as teams may have been waiting to see if he'd be dropped by today's deadline to tender players on the 40-man roster. So, Russell remains with the Cubs for now.
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