Addison Russell

[UK]

I've struggled with this one more than anything surrounding the Cubs. I incorrectly overlooked Chapman due to the long suffering of losing while in a year that was great based on W/L but low on morality. Murphy is a homophobic clown, the Ricketts' and their terrible ideologies angered me but not to the point where I would consider to not follow the Cubs, but the Russell stuff hurts. It's sad on my part that it took her powerful words in an online post to trigger it. I should have believed the internet rumors that he is a POS but her words spoke great volumes about domestic violence and the mindset of the Cubs FO which enables Russell's behavior. There's little silver lining that be had from her suffering but if one person can develop the courage to leave their abusive partner, it would be that.

 

My son was born 4 days before they won the WS, he has never been to Wrigley. I've waited until he is older as I was thinking about bringing him when he is 4, so he can have a better understanding of what it means to him and probably more importantly me to watch a game there with him. Not that he should eat them on a consistent basis but I've specifically held off giving him a hot dog until he goes to Wrigley sounds stupid in theory but it's what I want for him. I want him to experience walking up and seeing the green grass, ivy, giant scoreboard, etc. or sit in the bleachers trying to get a baseball. Now, I can't and it's unfair to us to have to gauge how immoral a team has to become for me not to support them.

 

We've been to plenty of baseball games.... HS, collegiate, summer collegiate leagues, fall baseball, etc. and we'll still attend these but Wrigley is something I've held out for and been looking forward to doing my entire life with a child. They've stripped the innocence from that. I know it's going to sound like grandstanding and possibly fictional to some but I'm out. I don't know if it'll be until Russell is gone, the FO is gone, etc. but I can't follow them until things change for the better. I hope they sign Harper and some arms and the win the WS but it'll be tainted. Sorry for the selfish rant but I'm done with everything associated with the Cubs.

 

I wish you all the best, hopefully they'll have a change of heart so I can too.

[Sammy Sofa]

oh and if this wasnt a horsefeathers enough of a day, richard spencer's LIBERAL girlfriend wrote about what a great guy he is and they were both wearing cubs hats in the picture

 

Fuckin' come on.

[Deeg]

I wonder how much of this stuff (some of which was already taking place) the Cubs were aware of when they traded for Russell, and if it was any concern to them at the time.

[Bull]

Regarding my opinions of the team, I'm trying to remain somewhat optimistic in the face pretty much all the evidence with the fact that it's only December and he doesn't have to/get to put on a Cubs jersey for another two months. Not necessarily because I hold much faith in Theo/Jed/Joe/the Rickett's moral character at this point, but just because...I don't know, I really like baseball. The unfortunate reality is that he's almost definitely going to be playing baseball for someone once the suspension is over. There are a few ways to make that be not the Cubs.

If he actually remains a Cub, I can’t imagine he will be with the team at spring training. They’ll avoid the media attention as much as possible. He will likely have an “extended spring trading” during the first 40 games of the regular season. Is that how PED suspensions at the beginning of the season are handled?

[17 Seconds]

subtractidaughter russell

[Hunter]

I generally like to let facts come out before I am willing to condemn someone. I also believe everyone deserves second chances and giving people the opportunity to apologize and move forward. I have been willing to give Russell such an opportunity and thought maybe the Cubs are doing the same. I can respect the Cubs if they honestly intended to do so.

 

However, the more that is coming out the more I too want Russell gone. The stories are troubling because they speak to an overall lack of character more so than Russell making stupid mistakes. His production hasn't been great, and his salary can't be an issue. The only thing I can fathom is the Cubs are either desperately trying to recover some value out of this situation, or this is all to stay in Boras' good graces. Neither reason is worth it, and he needs to go.

 

This is how I feel as well. So glad I bought Baez WS jersey beginning of 2017 season so it won't bother me about buying another Cub related merch for a long time.

 

Now to the bold part. Is there any blowback to the Cubs from Boras in this situation? Like if Cubs just outright release him and lets say Russell can't find a team to sign him all offseason, would Boras throw up his arms and start talking to MLBPA about filing a grievance or whatever? Boras could be like, "There's no video proof, convicted/arrest, etc and all we're relying on are the words of a couple womens and that the Cubs should still be paying him this season." It's a horsefeathers look for Boras, but I can see him sticking up to his client in that way.

 

Surely Theo/Cubs aren't worried that this could happen right? I'm just trying to think of another option on why Cubs have kept Russell so far that haven't been talked about. I don't think this has been brought up in this thread yet.

 

For the Boras angle, I more see it a possibility of him having an impact on signing Harper or extending/resigning Bryant. It might not be that big of an impact, but you don't want to piss him off either. In the end, the most money usually wins, but you want to keep a good relationship with the guy who holds strong influence of people you want to sign or extend. I've been of the belief that the Cubs tendered Russell to pay him $3-$4 million he will get and then trade him when it becomes doable. You keep Boras happy because you didn't completely kick Russell to the curb where he ends up getting nothing better than a minor league contract offered to him by another team.

[Bluescale]

You keep Boras happy because you didn't completely kick Russell to the curb where he ends up getting nothing better than a minor league contract offered to him by another team.

 

No, really, you don't. You cut your losses and move on. I'm not even comfortable with the idea of trading to try to recoup some value. I get that it's the right business move, but some things should be bigger than business. I don't want to gain anything from his shitty existence. I want the team to drop him like the flaming bag of horsefeathers that he is.

 

If I were more vindictive, maybe I'd want him sent off to the minor leagues to sit on a bench and burn a number of his most valuable years. But I don't know that that accomplishes anything, and I'm pretty sure that would result in a viable grievance claim.

[badger]

After reading @elizadushku and her account of her abuse, and then reading the #MelisaReidy stuff that came out today ... I'm feeling really bleh about mankind. Then I realized I was still following Russell on IG, so I unfollowed him.

 

Watching a trump rally would have saved you some time to get to that bleh feeling about mankind.

[Hunter]

You keep Boras happy because you didn't completely kick Russell to the curb where he ends up getting nothing better than a minor league contract offered to him by another team.

 

No, really, you don't. You cut your losses and move on. I'm not even comfortable with the idea of trading to try to recoup some value. I get that it's the right business move, but some things should be bigger than business. I don't want to gain anything from his horsefeathers existence. I want the team to drop him like the flaming bag of horsefeathers that he is.

 

If I were more vindictive, maybe I'd want him sent off to the minor leagues to sit on a bench and burn a number of his most valuable years. But I don't know that that accomplishes anything, and I'm pretty sure that would result in a viable grievance claim.

 

I am not saying what I would do but trying to reason what the organization is doing. It isn't worth any justification to keep him.

[SaorsaDaonnan]

Needs to be banned for life from all MLB facilities and events, to say nothing of released. It’s that simple.

 

(Not that this was unclear months ago, just that it bears repeating.)

[entbird79]

Just give him 16 million quarters and move on from this piece of horsefeathers

[Brian]

[tweet]

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[Sammy Sofa]

In addition to the horrific stuff imb posted from the article already:

 

One Christmas, they argued after he said something she describes as “insulting and disrespectful” and embarrassed” her in front of her family. After an argument, she left the apartment in exasperation with Aiden and got in the car to drive away. “He was hitting the car. I thought he was going to break the window at one point,” Reidy says. She went to a friend’s house and she was asked what she was doing with him. “I’m like, I don’t know but what am I supposed to do? What do I do?”

 

Melisa says Russell also had a habit of breaking her phone when he was angry with her, mentioning two specific incidents. Once, he taunted her about trying to plan their wedding without it and another time, it resulted in him giving her a new one as a “Christmas present”. Reidy became suspicious of gifts from Russell early on. When he offered to buy her a car after Aiden was born, she didn’t want any part of it. “I said, I’m not picking it. I didn’t want anything to do with it because I knew he was gonna hold it over my head,” she says.

 

Money was one of the things Melisa felt Russell always held over her. “He always told me, I have the career here, not you. I make the money. What do you do?” Nevermind, Reidy adds, that she gave up her career and her life because Addison wanted her to be with him. She describes their financial arrangement as her having a separate card that he deposited money on once a month that he told her to use for herself and Aiden. She had no access to his money and her allowance was expected to cover “diapers, wipes, food, travel, hygiene, stuff for the house” and remembers using it to purchase items to make a gift basket for the Cubs to auction off for charity. Or, other times, she says they would go out to eat and he would get angry, storming out in the middle of a meal and leaving her with the bill.

 

The day after Aiden’s first birthday, Reidy remembers Russell being “really, really mean” to her. He had been trying to call her while she was sleeping. When she got in touch with him, she says he just started “cussing me out and saying horsefeathers you, you’re a horsefeathering bitch…you don’t horsefeathering deserve me.” She says she had to beg Russell not to cancel her flight to Los Angeles to bring Aiden to come see him during the Cubs series against the Dodgers. Going to Los Angeles turned out to be, in Melisa’s words, the “worst trip ever”.

 

The day she arrived, she “saw stuff on his iPad” and realized that he was cheating on her again. This time, with a woman who she described as a “really, really close friend”. She still had to fly back on the Cubs’ plane with Russell, to whom she wasn’t speaking. She was sitting with Aiden near the window when she says Russell came over, grabbed her leg, squeezed it, and started to whisper in her ear. “He was like, “If you don’t horsefeathering act normal right now, I swear to god, I’m going to embarrass both of us on this plane. Do you really want that? Do you really want me to embarrass you in front of everybody? …Act horsefeathering right, act like I’m your horsefeathering husband. Treat me like I’m your husband,” Melisa says she asked him what he wanted her to do. His response? “He was like, talk to me. Turn around. Look at me. Sit closer.”

 

If you haven't read it already, do so since the site is up and working again:

 

http://www.expandedroster.com/2018/12/19/melisa-reidy-is-speaking-out-its-time-for-everyone-to-listen/

[Rob]

Yeah, I'm done with him. And I'm done with the Cubs until he's off the team.

[Clem Fandango]

If the Cubs retain Russell and start a network with Sinclair then I'm kinda hoping the White Sox do get Harper so I can have a much easier time still rooting for a Chicago baseball team this year.

[Old Style]

Has Addison fathered any new bastards since I checked this thread yesterday?

[Omar]

billions but they're dead in a napkin somewhere

[Sammy Sofa]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

[Old Style]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

Odds are better that Carlos Zambrano pitches another no hitter for the Cubs.

[Bluescale]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

 

It's a boys' club, and they don't turn on one another. Remember how the Brewers trotted out every minority player on their roster to talk about what a great guy Hader is after his tweets surfaced?

[CyHawk_Cub]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

 

I need to see r-mack weigh-in* before I can formulate a response.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*no, not really; if I never see him around these parts again it'd be too soon

[Guancous]

The Cubs should have a 24 man roster until Addison is cut or his suspension ends. Addison was my favorite player. Bought his jersey over Rizzo, Bryant, or any of the other 2015 luminaries.

 

MLB only suspends people with mounds of evidence. The teams should suffer as well. A teammate or executive might have intervened earlier if they knew relief pitchers would have to pinch hit in extra innings.

 

Yes, it’s Addison’s responsibility and he should take the brunt of the punishment. This is gross and needs to stop. Tip of the hat to people who predicted a situation like this when the Cubs signed Aroldis Chapman. May not be a direct correlation but here we are.

[squally1313]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

 

Friend of a friend has good connections with a baseball agent and ive heard a couple times now that KB and Mrs KB are really pissed at both the cubs and boras for how they’re handling this. Grain of salt, obviously, but throwing it out there.

[UMFan83]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

 

Friend of a friend has good connections with a baseball agent and ive heard a couple times now that KB and Mrs KB are really pissed at both the cubs and boras for how they’re handling this. Grain of salt, obviously, but throwing it out there.

 

Makes sense. In that article by Melisa she stated that Jessica was one of her best friends in the Cubs wives circle.

[squally1313]

What are the odds that we get even just one of his teammates at least saying that this sort of thing is wrong?

 

Friend of a friend has good connections with a baseball agent and ive heard a couple times now that KB and Mrs KB are really pissed at both the cubs and boras for how they’re handling this. Grain of salt, obviously, but throwing it out there.

 

Makes sense. In that article by Melisa she stated that Jessica was one of her best friends in the Cubs wives circle.

 

Under the potentially lazy assumption that the Harpers and the Bryants agree on most things, it kinda takes away from the argument that we are trying to not piss off Boras and screw up any Harper negotiation.