Addison Russell

[CyHawk_Cub]

Dexter went to hell after Rita died, IMO. I half-assed watched after that, but wasn't really engaged.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Dexter went to hell after Rita died, IMO. I half-assed watched after that, but wasn't really engaged.

Season 5 was just weird. So it starts with Rita dead, and half of what humanized Dex up to that point was his relationship with Rita and her kids. But as soon as she got offed, they get shipped to the in laws and you never see them again and a new lady friend is immediately introduced. When stuff like that happens, its clear that the writers don't have a plan and they are just tossing stuff that they hope sticks, and that is when I run for the exits. I'm never going to let someone pull a LOST me on again.

[biittner77]

I certainly understand and appreciate the "release him now" reaction, doing so ends any chance the Cubs have to positively effect his life. I feel like Theo might not release him right away in the hope that he can redeem himself and the Cubs organization can be part of that. I fully admit that Theo might keep him around because he's an asset and they don't privately care if he becomes a better person or not. Considering the way they handled things so far, I'll give Theo the benefit of the doubt.

[Banedon]

I certainly understand and appreciate the "release him now" reaction, doing so ends any chance the Cubs have to positively effect his life.

 

Why are the Cubs obligated to positively affect his life? I'd rather they positively affect the fanbase watching them by demonstrating that domestic violence has serious consequences.

[treebird]

Considering the way they handled things so far, I'll give Theo the benefit of the doubt.

 

theo deserves extreme scrutiny on issues like this one, not the benefit of the doubt.

 

i wish they’d just release russell, but i guess i get it if they trade him for nothing instead. if they bring him back, i think that will probably be it for me as a fan of the team.

[Tim]

The Cubs were willing to trade a ton for a guy who had a DV history and got no real blowback over the long term. Other than this being a different environment after #MeToo, what makes anyone believe they will just drop Addison for nothing?

 

If anything, I could see them hanging onto him until the suspension is done and try to get more for him later. They'll try to run the PR about the suspension being his punishment, him going to counseling, etc. They'll talk about the team as family and how you support your family through thick and thin, etc.

 

I hope they surprise me on this, but I'd guess they go in that direction.

[cubfan]

Considering the way they handled things so far, I'll give Theo the benefit of the doubt.

 

theo deserves extreme scrutiny on issues like this one, not the benefit of the doubt.

 

i wish they’d just release russell, but i guess i get it if they trade him for nothing instead. if they bring him back, i think that will probably be it for me as a fan of the team.

 

Just out of curiosity, why are you still a fan now after the Chapman trade then? On some levels, I think Chapman was worse as the front office goes because they choose to go get him with the knowledge of his past.

[Banedon]

Considering the way they handled things so far, I'll give Theo the benefit of the doubt.

 

theo deserves extreme scrutiny on issues like this one, not the benefit of the doubt.

 

i wish they’d just release russell, but i guess i get it if they trade him for nothing instead. if they bring him back, i think that will probably be it for me as a fan of the team.

 

Just out of curiosity, why are you still a fan now after the Chapman trade then? On some levels, I think Chapman was worse as the front office goes because they choose to go get him with the knowledge of his past.

 

Not to speak for tree, but I imagine it's more of a "straw that broke the camels back" scenario, after Chapman, Murphy, and now Russell.

[Bertz]

The Cubs were willing to trade a ton for a guy who had a DV history and got no real blowback over the long term. Other than this being a different environment after #MeToo, what makes anyone believe they will just drop Addison for nothing?

 

If anything, I could see them hanging onto him until the suspension is done and try to get more for him later. They'll try to run the PR about the suspension being his punishment, him going to counseling, etc. They'll talk about the team as family and how you support your family through thick and thin, etc.

 

I hope they surprise me on this, but I'd guess they go in that direction.

 

The difference is talent. I think Theo sees himself as the good guy. He pulled the trigger on Chapman because when push comes to shove he's more competitive than altruistic, but with Russell even without all the baggage he'd be a pretty marginal asset. It shouldn't matter, but it clearly does. I could also see him doing the right thing on this one in an explicit effort to try and make up for Chapman.

[squally1313]

I don't know guys, this thread turning into a thread about a show that started off promising, then quickly developing some flaws you could look past, and then eventually developing some terrible, unforgivable flaws that made everyone quit on said show feels like a nice little conclusion here.

[cubfan]

 

theo deserves extreme scrutiny on issues like this one, not the benefit of the doubt.

 

i wish they’d just release russell, but i guess i get it if they trade him for nothing instead. if they bring him back, i think that will probably be it for me as a fan of the team.

 

Just out of curiosity, why are you still a fan now after the Chapman trade then? On some levels, I think Chapman was worse as the front office goes because they choose to go get him with the knowledge of his past.

 

Not to speak for tree, but I imagine it's more of a "straw that broke the camels back" scenario, after Chapman, Murphy, and now Russell.

 

 

that makes sense, I guess there is only so much you can take before you question why your are fan of a team.

[Banedon]

I don't know guys, this thread turning into a thread about a show that started off promising, then quickly developing some flaws you could look past, and then eventually developing some terrible, unforgivable flaws that made everyone quit on said show feels like a nice little conclusion here.

 

I watched every episode of that show, unfortunately.

 

http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2013/09/23/23-dexter-1.w529.h352.jpg

[Sammy Sofa]

This is a very, very good take:

 

https://deadspin.com/melisa-reidy-russell-overcame-baseballs-bureaucracy-and-1829529289

 

Late Wednesday, a day after the Chicago Cubs had been eliminated from the playoffs, Major League Baseball announced that it was suspending Addison Russell for 40 games for “violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Domestic Violent, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.” Russell will also be required to “participate in a confidential and comprehensive evaluation and treatment program.”

 

Russell issued a statement saying he is accepting MLB’s resolution because he decided it was best interest for his family “after gaining a full understanding of the situation.” More likely than not, both MLB and Russell are hoping that fall and winter prove to be enough time for fans to forget before baseball starts up again in the spring. Typically, this would be where the media narrative would end.

 

But then Russell’s ex-wife, Melisa Reidy-Russell, spoke out again. She participated in two stories: a sit-down interview with WGN’s Lauren Magiera and an interview with the Athletic’s Katie Strang. Both pieces gave Reidy-Russell space to discuss the abuse she says she suffered, why she hid it from so many people for so long, why she told MLB she wouldn’t cooperate with its investigation, and why, more than a year later, she changed her mind and wrote her blog post, then spoke to MLB. For a moment, press coverage about domestic violence was about a woman who said she was abused, not the man either denying it or promising he would never do it again.

 

This happened because Reidy-Russell made it happen.

 

After reading and watching her interviews, I thought back to the coverage of Janay Rice when her husband, Ray, was trying to make a comeback after his domestic violence case. My former colleague Puja Patel rightly called out several stories for glossing over Janay Rice’s story, putting the focus on the damage done to her husband’s career while ignoring what any of it meant for his victim. That didn’t happen in this case. I doubt it’s because the baseball media is more enlightened than the football press, although seeing the latter’s failings gives the former an advantage. Instead, Reidy-Russell didn’t give them a choice. She told her story when she wanted to, first to MLB, then to the reporters she chose. She went from being in a powerless situation to having power over her own life and her own narrative.

 

I won’t be surprised if some among the baseball press or within MLB start to debate whether the Russell case was handled “right or wrong,” as if it were an umpire’s call to be re-evaluated over instant reply. Suspensions ultimately are about public relations, calibrated to officials’ best guess at many games will bring angry people down at least to lukewarm and back to buying tickets. The idea of assigning a number of baseball games on forms of human cruelty is always going to feel somewhere between arbitrary and disgusting. The stuff that matters—if Russell will learn and grow as a human being—is unknowable. He could go to 50 counseling sessions, or he could take the Aroldis Chapman treatment and only attend one. He could change his approach to the world, or he could not. In an ideal world, creating improvement plans for people wouldn’t be outsourced to sports leagues run by ruthless businessmen, but that is not the world we live in.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Sammy Sofa

[biittner77]

I certainly understand and appreciate the "release him now" reaction, doing so ends any chance the Cubs have to positively effect his life.

 

Why are the Cubs obligated to positively affect his life? I'd rather they positively affect the fanbase watching them by demonstrating that domestic violence has serious consequences.

 

They aren't obligated. But wouldn't it be great if they used the influence to at least try. Not for Addison Russell but, going forward, if an organization like the Cubs actually held him accountable and other players took notice, maybe this happens less in the future. Make him actually go to counseling. Make him do more than just give lip service to doing the right things. After he's done that, if they're not convinced he's changed for the better than publicly and loudly blast him into a billion pieces.

 

If the Cubs released him tomorrow and someone else picks him up, he will have learned nothing and will probably do it again. Women seem to like this guy.

[Sammy Sofa]

I certainly understand and appreciate the "release him now" reaction, doing so ends any chance the Cubs have to positively effect his life.

 

Why are the Cubs obligated to positively affect his life? I'd rather they positively affect the fanbase watching them by demonstrating that domestic violence has serious consequences.

 

They aren't obligated. But wouldn't it be great if they used the influence to at least try. Not for Addison Russell but, going forward, if an organization like the Cubs actually held him accountable and other players took notice, maybe this happens less in the future. Make him actually go to counseling. Make him do more than just give lip service to doing the right things. After he's done that, if they're not convinced he's changed for the better than publicly and loudly blast him into a billion pieces.

 

If the Cubs released him tomorrow and someone else picks him up, he will have learned nothing and will probably do it again. Women seem to like this guy.

 

I bolded this part of the quotes form my post above yours in response to this:

 

The idea of assigning a number of baseball games on forms of human cruelty is always going to feel somewhere between arbitrary and disgusting. The stuff that matters—if Russell will learn and grow as a human being—is unknowable. He could go to 50 counseling sessions, or he could take the Aroldis Chapman treatment and only attend one. He could change his approach to the world, or he could not. In an ideal world, creating improvement plans for people wouldn’t be outsourced to sports leagues run by ruthless businessmen, but that is not the world we live in.

 

Putting the onus on MLB to try and "fix" him is all wrong.

[Banedon]

I certainly understand and appreciate the "release him now" reaction, doing so ends any chance the Cubs have to positively effect his life.

 

Why are the Cubs obligated to positively affect his life? I'd rather they positively affect the fanbase watching them by demonstrating that domestic violence has serious consequences.

 

They aren't obligated. But wouldn't it be great if they used the influence to at least try. Not for Addison Russell but, going forward, if an organization like the Cubs actually held him accountable and other players took notice, maybe this happens less in the future. Make him actually go to counseling. Make him do more than just give lip service to doing the right things. After he's done that, if they're not convinced he's changed for the better than publicly and loudly blast him into a billion pieces.

 

If the Cubs released him tomorrow and someone else picks him up, he will have learned nothing and will probably do it again. Women seem to like this guy.

 

Don't you think "oh no I might get released from my extremely high paying job in sports" is much more of a deterrent to bad behavior than "oh no I have to attend a few therapy sessions"?

[soccer10k]

 

Why are the Cubs obligated to positively affect his life? I'd rather they positively affect the fanbase watching them by demonstrating that domestic violence has serious consequences.

 

They aren't obligated. But wouldn't it be great if they used the influence to at least try. Not for Addison Russell but, going forward, if an organization like the Cubs actually held him accountable and other players took notice, maybe this happens less in the future. Make him actually go to counseling. Make him do more than just give lip service to doing the right things. After he's done that, if they're not convinced he's changed for the better than publicly and loudly blast him into a billion pieces.

 

If the Cubs released him tomorrow and someone else picks him up, he will have learned nothing and will probably do it again. Women seem to like this guy.

 

Don't you think "oh no I might get released from my extremely high paying job in sports" is much more of a deterrent to bad behavior than "oh no I have to attend a few therapy sessions"?

 

I’m sure he’s much more worried he’ll get released because he can’t hit than because of bad behavior.

[Banedon]

 

They aren't obligated. But wouldn't it be great if they used the influence to at least try. Not for Addison Russell but, going forward, if an organization like the Cubs actually held him accountable and other players took notice, maybe this happens less in the future. Make him actually go to counseling. Make him do more than just give lip service to doing the right things. After he's done that, if they're not convinced he's changed for the better than publicly and loudly blast him into a billion pieces.

 

If the Cubs released him tomorrow and someone else picks him up, he will have learned nothing and will probably do it again. Women seem to like this guy.

 

Don't you think "oh no I might get released from my extremely high paying job in sports" is much more of a deterrent to bad behavior than "oh no I have to attend a few therapy sessions"?

 

I’m sure he’s much more worried he’ll get released because he can’t hit than because of bad behavior.

 

Not worried enough to adjust his lifestyle choices.

[Banedon]

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[Cubswin11]

 

[Sammy Sofa]

[CyHawk_Cub]

What I gather from reading some of the online debate about Russell is that a scary amount of people think playing big league baseball is a some sort of natural right and that guilt beyond all reasonable doubt must be established for him to be deserving of being run out of town on a rail.

[Cubswin11]

Please just be posturing for trade value for him

 

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[David]

Obviously not comparing what they did to get run out of town, but he did the same thing with Zambrano, then he traded him for Chris Volstad a few weeks later.

 

I highly doubt Russell plays another inning here.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Yeah, Russell is very obviously never playing another inning for the Cubs. There's worthy debate as to whether it's moral to try to maximize his value in the meantime(and whether it's legal to simply release him/non-tender him in the other direction), but he's done in Chicago. This post will self-destruct in 7 days just in case I look very stupid later.