MLB waited until the Cubs were out of the postseason to announce Russell's suspensionGETTY IMAGES
Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein "wouldn’t say" whether SS Addison Russell will play for the team again after he was "suspended for 40 games without pay" for violating MLB's domestic-abuse policy, according to Mark Gonzales of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Epstein said that the Cubs "wouldn't turn their back on Russell as he participates in a comprehensive evaluation and treatment program supervised by the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy Board." He added that the club would "reach out and assist Melisa Reidy-Russell, who two weeks ago accused her former husband of physical and mental abuse and provided details in a subsequent MLB investigation." Epstein: "The most important thing is being part of the solution going forward. ... We want to make sure it doesn’t happen on our watch” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/4). In Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer writes by "waiting until the Cubs were done with their brief playoff run" to announce Russell's suspension, MLB "kept the responsibility and potential distraction as far removed from the team for as long as it could." However, the heat has shifted to Epstein and the Ricketts family for the "next step in addressing" Russell's future. Epstein "seemed to acknowledge the gravity of the Cubs' next step with -- or without -- Russell." He said, "We have to understand with all of our word and our actions going forward, whether we know it or not, we're sending messages to our fans who all have their own unique backgrounds and histories and sensitivities and perspectives, and that's important" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 10/4).
PUNISHMENT RAISES CONCERNS: THE RINGER's Michael Baumann wrote Russell's 40-game suspension will "invite comments about how MLB punishes first-time PED violations more harshly than players suspended under its domestic violence policy." It also "raises questions about how Russell's case is different" from that of Astros P Roberto Osuna, who earned a 75-game suspension -- does MLB "believe that there's some sort of graduated scale of badness for intimate partner violence?" Even in the face of evidence that a zero-tolerance domestic violence policy would "decrease reporting and endanger victims, a 40-game suspension feels insufficient." MLB will "never come up with a satisfactory domestic violence punishment structure because it's an entertainment company that's had a comprehensive societal failure fall into its lap." The league will be "unable to punish those transgressions in a way that satisfies both the need for education and compassion among the public and the desire to punish people who do evil things" (THERINGER.com, 10/3). Reidy-Russell talked to The Athletic about her experience with MLB's investigative process and why she decided to speak up about her abuse.
