Chicago Cubs: Addison Russell’s harrowing fall from grace

Chicago Cubs infielder Addison Russell went from top prospect to World Series champion before writing a much darker chapter in his personal story.

I still remember the day the Chicago Cubs acquired Addison Russell.

Upon hearing the news, I immediately left my hometown’s Fourth of July fireworks display and rushed home to break out my laptop and write it up. Trading right-hander Jeff Samardzija? Not such a big deal. The writing was on the wall for months prior.

But landing Russell in the deal? Now that was something to get excited about. Russell added to a loaded Cubs farm system, coming over as Baseball America‘s 14th-ranked prospect in the game at the onset of 2014. By the time the sun rose in Arizona next spring? He’d ascended to third.

And, as Chicago went from laughingstock to perennial contender, Addison Russell became a mainstay in the lineup. The two shooting trajectories – both that of Russell and of the Cubs – hit their peak in 2016, when Russell became the only Chicago shortstop not named Ernie Banks to drive in 95 runs as the Cubs won their first title in 108 years.

But as quickly as he stole the show, he faded into the backdrop, appearing in only 110 games in 2017 as rumored domestic abuse allegations arose against the young infielder. Major League Baseball investigated, but we never really heard anything concrete.

Until this summer.

Chicago Cubs: From high school standout to first-round pick

High school competition proved laughable for a young Addison Russell. In his senior season at Pace High School, located outside Pensacola, Fla., he hit .368 with a staggering .532 on-base percentage.

And his accolades stretched far beyond just his high school club.

In 2010, Russell played in the Under Armour All-America Game. He also participated in the Perfect Game Aflac All-American Game and was a consensus Top 25 high school prospect regardless of where you got your information. His talent, physical make-up and overall skill set proved enough for the Oakland Athletics to draft him with the 11th overall pick in 2012.

Ahead of the June draft, MLB.com had this to say about Russell:

A shortstop in high school, perhaps a third baseman at the next level, it doesn’t matter. It will be Russell’s bat that gets him drafted. The Florida prep infielder has very good bat speed and doesn’t get cheated at the plate, with above-average power to his pull side. He’s an average runner who is better underway. He does have some good defensive skills, with plus arm strength and good hands.

Just five picks earlier, the Cubs went with another Florida high school standout in Albert Almora, who played with Russell in the 2011 COPABE 18U/AAA Pan American game. Little did they know, they’d someday put on the same uniform once again.

Chicago Cubs: Russell’s rapidly rising stock

In his first taste of professional action, Addison Russell absolutely torched opposing pitching. Between Rookie-level, Low-A and Class-A action, the Oakland prospect put up a staggering .369/.432/.594 slash line.

And Billy Beane was licking his chops. He knew even then he had a special talent in Russell. Given payroll limitations in Oakland, the Athletics’ success hinged (and still does, to a degree) on the success of their young players. Although not quite ready to take the next step, all eyes were on the young infielder.

Russell spent 2013 at High-A Stockton, coming back to earth a bit, batting .282/.361/.435. He also got a cup of coffee with Triple-A Sacramento, but looked lost, going 1-for-13 with nine strikeouts in three games.

Early in 2014, Oakland jumped out of the gates and dominated, going 18-9 in April and 17-9 in June, prompting Beane to stoke the fires far ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. He and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein worked the phones regularly regarding the A’s big need – frontline starting pitchers.

Then, things started to move.

Chicago Cubs: Another weapon in a growing war chest

By early July, Epstein knew Oakland would get a big-time arm – it was just a matter of whether it would be Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija or Tampa Bay southpaw David Price.

Samardzija, a former Notre Dame football standout, was 2-7 with the Cubs – with a sterling 2.83 earned run average in 17 outings. His win-loss record came courtesy of an offense including the likes of Luis Valbuena, Chris Coghlan, Arismendy Alcantara and Nate Schierholtz.

After extension talks went south in spring training, Epstein pretty much knew the right-hander was no longer a long-term asset to the team. If he could trade him for yet another young high-ceiling prospect, it would only help his team’s chances in the long run.

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“So those days in early July, he (Beane) was going back and forth and I think he was going back and forth on the phone with me and Andrew Friedman, kind of creating an artificial deadline,” Epstein said. “The night of July 3 we were holding our breath because we knew he was going back in for Price. We were just trying to get to a ‘yes.’ I probably talked to Billy 20 times on July 3 and 4th.”

When the details were ironed out, Epstein sent Samardijza and right-hander Jason Hammel to Oakland in exchange for Billy McKinney, Addison Russell and Dan Straily. A few weeks later, Beane traded Yoenis Cespedes and a draft pick to Boston for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. For the first time, Oakland jettisoned their prospect-driven strategy in hopes of winning it all.

But the Athletics stumbled down the stretch, going just 29-38 in the second half after playing to the tune of a .621 winning percentage before the All-Star Break (59-36). Lester imploded in the American League Wild Card game and, just like that, Oakland’s season drew to a disappointing close.

No pennant. No World Series title. And, as pundits pointed out in the offseason, no Addison Russell.

Chicago Cubs: Cracking a big league roster

That winter brought intense excitement to the North Side of Chicago. Epstein went out and got Rays manager Joe Maddon, after the quirky baseball guru opted out of his deal in Tampa Bay. Few even knew his contract contained such a provision.

But when GM Andrew Friedman headed west to lead the Dodgers’ baseball ops team as president, Maddon took the chance to join Epstein in Chicago.

And when the Cubs got to Arizona for Spring Training, Maddon got his first glimpse of Addison Russell.

“I thought he picked up a ground ball exactly as it should be picked up,” Maddon said. “His mechanics are sound. … I like simplicity in everything, and it’s very simple. I like that. … And then beyond that, don’t forget he just turned 21. Watch him take batting practice. Listen to the ball off the bat. It’s got a different sound when he hits the baseball, and that’s going to really project over the next couple years – or decade.”

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Chicago entered 2015 coming off 101, 96 and 89 losses, respectively, in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In short, we all wondered when the ‘rebuild’ would start to net positive results. And, no, in case you forgot (or didn’t become a fan till around two years ago) – 89 losses wasn’t enough of a ‘success’.

With Maddon at the helm, the youth movement was in full effect. Russell made his big-league debut on April 21 – less than a month into the season. He collected his first hit the next day in a loss at PNC Park.

Over the course of the 2015 campaign, the rookie put together a 12-game hit streak and provided seven go-ahead knocks en route to a .696 OPS, 13 home runs and 54 RBI. That was hardly what you wanted, at least offensively, but Russell’s defense had Wrigley buzzing on a daily basis.

After hanging around the .500 in the first half, the Cubs put together back-to-back 19-9 months to close out the regular season and earn one of the two Wild Card berths. Jake Arrieta, eventual NL Cy Young winner, pitched them past the Pittsburgh Pirates and they knocked out the rival St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS before falling into the New York Mets’ star-studded rotation in the NLCS.

Chicago Cubs: “The Cubs have done it!”

People forget that when Addison Russell put together his breakout 2016 campaign, he was just 22 years of age and had just under one full big league season under his belt.

As a team, Chicago pretty much coasted throughout the entire regular season, winning 103 games and their first division crown since 2008. From Opening Day on, this team was appointed as World Series front-runners – and it’s not hard to understand why.

For Russell’s part, he came up big at Wrigley Field time and time again, hitting .272 at home, driving in 62 runs en route to an .833 OPS. Despite a so-so batting average, he was the epitome of clutch, slashing .391/.407/.609 with the bases loaded.

In October, that prowess stole the show on the national stage.

Russell took Dan Otero deep in the Cubs’ Game 6 blowout win to keep their title hopes alive and push the World Series to a winner-take-all Game 7. At that point, the blast seemed destined to live in team lore forever -a piece of World Series history we’d all remember forever.

Chicago Cubs: She comes forward and tells her story

Everyone, Russell included, hoped the allegations and poor performance from 2017 were a thing of the past. Those hopes were for naught.

On the field, the shortstop put up largely pedestrian numbers. He hit north of .250 for the first time in his young career, but he still was a far cry from the All-Star caliber player we saw during the Cubs’ 2016 World Series campaign.

With the team seemingly destined for a third consecutive division crown and all eyes on October, despite inconsistent play from the Cubs, the other foot fell. Russell’s ex-wife, now Melisa Russell-Reidy, penned a tell-all blog post, detailing years of physical, mental and emotional abuse.

The post should be read in its entirety. I’m not going to pull bits and pieces out of it here, because it wouldn’t do it justice. But the fallout was immediate and dramatic.

Chicago placed Russell on administrative leave, the league re-opened their investigation (now with Russell-Reidy’s cooperation) and, to say the least, there were some questionable responses – especially from Cubs skipper Joe Maddon, who, at first, tried to stay clear of it all.

“Addison hasn’t written anything either,” Maddon said. “I’m going to wait until the process runs its course. I’ll get all the information needed at that point. There’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing I can do to help the situation at all.”

Maddon ultimately read the post, saying, “Domestic violence is horrible. It absolutely is,” Maddon said nearly a week after the blog post went up online. “By reading that, you feel her pain, absolutely.”

Chicago Cubs: Time to move forward for both sides

The MLB investigation has now concluded, suspending Russell for 40 games, retroactive to Sept. 21. Whether or not we ever see Addison Russell in a Chicago Cubs uniform again seems unlikely, at best.

It’s been a rapid and precipitous fall for the still-only 24-year-old infielder. From high school standout to first overall pick, Addison Russell had the world at his fingertips. Instead of changing his life – and the lives of those around him – for the better, he went in a dark direction.

There’s no excuse for what he has put his loved ones through. Countless young fans will never look at Russell the same way again – and with good reason. He betrayed not only their trust, but the trust of those around him.

He seemed destined to be one of the game’s great middle infielders. Instead, he’s little more than a disgraced former top prospect who is no longer best known for what he did on the diamond, but rather off it.