Cubs keep SS Russell despite suspension
Pirates add RHP from Oakland A’s
Speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton and 2017 All-Stars Avisail Garcia and Jonathan Schoop became free agents Friday when they were among 43 players cut loose by teams that failed to offer 2019 contracts, but the Chicago Cubs hung onto shortstop Addison Russell despite his 40game domestic violence suspension that extends until May.
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called the decision a procedural step and said it “does not represent the finish line nor rubber-stamp his future” with them.
“It does however reflect our support for him as long as he continues to make progress and demonstrates his commitment to these important issues,” Epstein added.
Russell accepted the suspension after allegations made by his ex-wife Melisa Reidy. Though Russell has denied the allegations, he apologized to Reidy and his family for “my 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 in a statement issued by the Cubs.
Russell said he will meet regularly with experts and counselors mandated by his treatment plan. He said he also plans to keep working with his own therapist, whom he has been seeing several times a week the past two months.
He also hopes to work with non-profit groups in his hometown of Pensacola, Florida, as well as Chicago and Arizona.
“I am just in the early stages of this process,” Russell said. “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.”
Teams had a Friday evening deadline to offer contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man rosters, the last chance to in effect release salary arbitration-eligible players at no cost.
Hamilton, 28, hit .236 with four homers and 29 RBIs this year for last-place Cincinnati as his stolen bases dropped to 34, and the Reds did not want to pay the raise he would get in arbitration from his $4.6 million salary. He swiped 56 bases in 2014 and increased his total by one annually in each of the next three seasons.
Garcia was limited to 93 games this past season for the White Sox because of discomfort in his right knee that led to surgery in October, and his batting average dropped from .330 to .236, too much of a decline for Chicago given the $6.7 million he won at a salary arbitration hearing in February.
Pirates
The Pirates acquired minor league right-hander Wilkin Ramos from the Oakland Athletics Saturday as the player to be named later in the Tanner Anderson trade. Anderson went to Oakland Nov. 20, which was the deadline for teams to add players to the 40-man roster and protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Ramos, 18, signed with the A’s on July 25, 2017. In his first season of professional ball, in the Dominican Summer League, the Santo Domingo native had a 3.15 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 40 innings. He started eight of the 14 games in which he pitched.