Addison Russell

[Sammy Sofa]

Most pro athletes probably don't vote at all.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Russell's wife is declining to meet with MLB investigators. http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/addison-russells-wife-files-divorce-and-declines-meet-mlb-investigators

[Ding Dong Johnson]

part of me hopes he didn't have a prenup

 

[jersey cubs fan]

make him desperate to sign an early extension

[Guest]

i thought it would be years before we started finding out which guys from the 2016 team are bad people

 

I assume you mean besides Lackey.

 

Lackey is a bad person? The guy eats one lousy child and all of a sudden he's a bad person.

 

didn't Lackey have sexual assault allegations while he was an Angel?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

 

I assume you mean besides Lackey.

 

Lackey is a bad person? The guy eats one lousy child and all of a sudden he's a bad person.

 

didn't Lackey have sexual assault allegations while he was an Angel?

build 1 bridge they don't call you a bridge builder, but suck one [expletive]...

[We Got The Whole 9]

I just learned the Phillies have a minor leaguer named Addison Russ [emoji28]

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=sa3004106&position=P

[Old Style]

On the off chance that Addy gets traded for pitching, who would be the backup to Javy at SS?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

On the off chance that Addy gets traded for pitching, who would be the backup to Javy at SS?

 

The answer is 'this is why neither of Russell or Baez is getting traded', but if we go along with the hypothetical, odds are it would be someone currently outside the organization.

[squally1313]

On the off chance that Addy gets traded for pitching, who would be the backup to Javy at SS?

 

The answer is 'this is why neither of Russell or Baez is getting traded', but if we go along with the hypothetical, odds are it would be someone currently outside the organization.

 

There's a lot of reasons to not trade Russell, but 'we have to have a player of Baez' ability as our backup shortstop' has to be pretty far down the list. It was great last year when our pitching staff was shutting everyone down and then we also had the ability to plug in a 3 WAR 23 year old top prospect all over the infield, but things have changed a little bit since then.

 

If Baez or Russell lets us go from Lackey (or Butler) to a quality starter, I'm going to be worried about the trade...whether we got damaged goods, picked up a rental, gave up a future stud, etc. Not so much about letting Happ take over the util role and having to trade a lottery ticket pitcher for Jose Iglesias or whatever.

[Clem Fandango]

I mean with Russell's performance this year and his off-field troubles and allegations would we even be able to get max value for him? We'd likely be selling low.

 

That said, I've often wondered if he was ever on the hot seat for a trade since those allegations.

[Regular Show]

I mean with Russell's performance this year and his off-field troubles and allegations would we even be able to get max value for him? We'd likely be selling low.

 

That said, I've often wondered if he was ever on the hot seat for a trade since those allegations.

 

I'm calling it now. I don't think the Cubs are going to be moving him this month, but I do believe the Cubs are definitely going to be shopping him aggressively this offseason. His approach at the plate is terrible, and his ability to recognize and hit breaking pitches/offspeed pitches has always been poor. Throw in all the off-field problems and I think (sadly) A. Russell is going to be our version of W. Myers. I think Theo and the Cubs FO are very disappointed in Russell.

 

Hopefully, we'll get a nice return like Was somehow got (J. Ross and T. Turner) in that 3-team trade, and we'll move J. Baez to SS and play a combination of I. Happ/B. Zobrist at 2B next year.

[Gmoney08]

Im at the point I think Baez is the least likely to be moved out of him, Russell and Happ now.

 

Happ's value might be at its highest and a perfect time to move & I feel Baez has surpassed Russell on both sides of the ball, plus still has the much higher ceiling.

[sneakypower]

i was promised Barry Larkin

[Cubswin11]

Im at the point I think Baez is the least likely to be moved out of him, Russell and Happ now.

 

Happ's value might be at its highest and a perfect time to move & I feel Baez has surpassed Russell on both sides of the ball, plus still has the much higher ceiling.

Even tho Javy has made good strides I think Russell has as good a ceiling and much more easily attainable

[Regular Show]

Im at the point I think Baez is the least likely to be moved out of him, Russell and Happ now.

 

Happ's value might be at its highest and a perfect time to move & I feel Baez has surpassed Russell on both sides of the ball, plus still has the much higher ceiling.

Even tho Javy has made good strides I think Russell has as good a ceiling and much more easily attainable

 

I think or used to think Russell had a super high ceiling that he was capable of reaching someday, but I don't feel that way anymore. I don't think A. Russell is our B. Larkin v2.0, but instead is our version of B. Crawford w/o the long, flowing majestic hair.

 

I think Baez has the much higher ceiling, but I also doubt he'll ever reach it. Both are still valuable -- just not as valuable as Lindor, Seager or Correa.

[Cubswin11]

Im at the point I think Baez is the least likely to be moved out of him, Russell and Happ now.

 

Happ's value might be at its highest and a perfect time to move & I feel Baez has surpassed Russell on both sides of the ball, plus still has the much higher ceiling.

Even tho Javy has made good strides I think Russell has as good a ceiling and much more easily attainable

 

I think or used to think Russell had a super high ceiling that he was capable of reaching someday, but I don't feel that way anymore. I don't think A. Russell is our B. Larkin v2.0, but instead is our version of B. Crawford w/o the long, flowing majestic hair.

 

I think Baez has the much higher ceiling, but I also doubt he'll ever reach it. Both are still valuable -- just not as valuable as Lindor, Seager or Correa.

I don't overly disagree, but I'd like to think this is a bottoming out point for Russell and an upswing is coming. I think he can still reach the Seager/Lindor class easier than Javy can. I hope a lot of Russell's drop off can be explained by the shoulder (hopefully nothing serious) and whatever was going on at home. And I'm not dismissing the DV stuff (if that's true F him) and even without it he's still a dickbag but still has/had to rightfully face some consequences for decisions he's made and has had that carry over to the field (again all brought on by idiot decisions/judgement best case scenario, worst case he's a wife beater and can go horsefeathers off for whatever we can get in a trade).

[Agony and Ivy]

I mean with Russell's performance this year and his off-field troubles and allegations would we even be able to get max value for him? We'd likely be selling low.

 

That said, I've often wondered if he was ever on the hot seat for a trade since those allegations.

 

I'm calling it now. I don't think the Cubs are going to be moving him this month, but I do believe the Cubs are definitely going to be shopping him aggressively this offseason. His approach at the plate is terrible, and his ability to recognize and hit breaking pitches/offspeed pitches has always been poor. Throw in all the off-field problems and I think (sadly) A. Russell is going to be our version of W. Myers. I think Theo and the Cubs FO are very disappointed in Russell.

 

Hopefully, we'll get a nice return like Was somehow got (J. Ross and T. Turner) in that 3-team trade, and we'll move J. Baez to SS and play a combination of I. Happ/B. Zobrist at 2B next year.

 

Russell is 23. He's made massive adjustments on the fly in both seasons he's been in the majors. He recognized a flaw in his swing that was exploited by breaking balls down and away and he just decided to not swing at them anymore. And despite what your eye test scouting report says, he pulled it off, and that's not something many 23 year olds would be able to do. Now, if they're not comfortable with him as a human being they might move him, but if you're basing your whole "the front office is disappointed in Russell" take based on a shitty first half of baseball, then they must hate Schwarber too.

[cubsclapp]

Even tho Javy has made good strides I think Russell has as good a ceiling and much more easily attainable

 

I think or used to think Russell had a super high ceiling that he was capable of reaching someday, but I don't feel that way anymore. I don't think A. Russell is our B. Larkin v2.0, but instead is our version of B. Crawford w/o the long, flowing majestic hair.

 

I think Baez has the much higher ceiling, but I also doubt he'll ever reach it. Both are still valuable -- just not as valuable as Lindor, Seager or Correa.

I don't overly disagree, but I'd like to think this is a bottoming out point for Russell and an upswing is coming. I think he can still reach the Seager/Lindor class easier than Javy can. I hope a lot of Russell's drop off can be explained by the shoulder (hopefully nothing serious) and whatever was going on at home. And I'm not dismissing the DV stuff (if that's true F him) and even without it he's still a dickbag but still has/had to rightfully face some consequences for decisions he's made and has had that carry over to the field (again all brought on by idiot decisions/judgement best case scenario, worst case he's a wife beater and can go horsefeathers off for whatever we can get in a trade).

 

Yeah, Russell is still very, very valuable, and is likely quite a bit better than this. At least a 3-4 win player. And by bWAR, he'll still be that this year due to his 13 DRS.

 

Baez is not the shortstop Russell is and has a career .652 OPS vs right-handed pitching which you'd be asking him to face more as the everyday shortstop. You're also then making the second base defense worse, given Baez is currently starting a few times a week there.

 

Unless the Cubs know more about this DV situation/have character concerns, it's hard to see a scenario where they trade him now, or even in the next few years.

 

Even Russell's probably biggest known critic has him ranked 40th on the new trade value rankings (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2017-trade-value-31-to-40/):

 

If this was just Dave’s Top 50 Franchise Players or something, Russell might not be on this list. I’ve maintained some skepticism over the years about his eventual offensive upside, given his moderate power and low contact rates. His poor start to 2017 isn’t helping the idea that the bat is headed in the right direction. But feedback from friends in the game suggested that his stock within MLB is still pretty high, with multiple reminders that this is a guy who put up +7 WAR at ages 21-22, and he doesn’t need to crush the ball to be an elite player given his defense.

 

As one friend put it, he’s already pretty close to being Brandon Crawford, and there is still upside for more. And the 30-year-old Brandon Crawford almost made this list despite being making $15 million per year for his decline phase. So a younger, cheaper version with remaining potential is something teams would still love to have, despite his early-season struggles. And it’s why the Cubs, to this point, aren’t making him available, even with an internal replacement in Javier Baez and a glaring need for another starting pitcher.

 

As for the domestic-violence accusations, which are certainly disturbing, the Aroldis Chapman trade last summer showed there isn’t a lot of evidence that teams are backing away from acquiring talented players because of these problems. While I can wish that weren’t the case, the reality in MLB right now is that acquiring talent still wins out in nearly every decision, and Russell is still a very talented young shortstop. Because this project attempts to measure what MLB is valuing, and not what I’m valuing, Russell still ranks fairly highly here, despite his current on- and off-field issues.

[Gilby]

Gleyber Torres could throw a ball with more velocity across the diamond with his recently Tommy John'd left arm than Russell can with his right.

[bukie]

Congratulations on having the wrongest take of the season.

[cubsclapp]

Gleyber Torres could throw a ball with more velocity across the diamond with his recently Tommy John'd left arm than Russell can with his right.

 

This is a weird thing to say about a guy that is fourth in the major leagues in defensive runs saved. Especially when comparing him to a future third baseman.

[Cubswin11]

Didn't see it anywhere, but my ESPN Fantasy thing/notification says Russell is dealing with plantar fasciitis and there's no timetable for a return

[BigSlick]

Not a fun or enjoyable year for Addison, huh

[Bull]

What is the latest?