Cubs cut ties with controversial shortstop Addison Russell

In a move that came a year too late for many Cubs fans, the team cut ties with troubled infielder Addison Russell on Monday, announcing it won’t offer the arbitration-eligible player a 2020 contract.

The announcement came at baseball’s deadline for tendering contracts to unsigned players under club control and makes Russell, a shortstop who moved to second base in 2019, a free agent.

Russell, whose performance has declined since his 2016 All-Star selection, was hit with a 40-game suspension under baseball’s domestic-violence policy from September 2018 through the first month of 2019 after an investigation that began in 2017.

Team president Theo Epstein, who drew significant backlash from a vocal sector of fans a year ago when he made the decision to keep Russell into the 2019 season, suggested in a statement that the move was a baseball decision only.

“We decided to non-tender Addison Russell today simply because the role we expected him to play for the 2020 Cubs was inconsistent with how he would have been treated in the salary-arbitration process,” Epstein said.

Russell, 25, made $3.7 million in 2019, including $300,000 in roster bonuses, hitting a career-low .237 in 82 games with nine home runs and a .699 OPS.

“In the year since we decided to tender Addison a contract last November, he has lived up to his promise to put in the important self-improvement work necessary off the field and has shown growth as a person, as a partner, as a parent and as a citizen,” Epstein said in the statement. “We hope and believe that Addison’s work and growth will continue, and we have offered our continued support of him and his family, including Melisa.”

Melisa Reidy, Russell’s ex-wife, outlined abusive behavior by Russell in social-media posts that led to the suspension.

Russell missed two weeks in September after being hit in the head by a pitch in Milwaukee, allowing the Cubs to pocket $100,000 in a final roster bonus by making an otherwise-unnecessary injured-list move a week after the beaning.

After returning, Russell talked during the last homestand about the possibility he could be non-tendered or traded, saying he wanted to stay in Chicago but recognized the potential benefit of a change of scenery.

“Wherever my path may go, then I’ll adjust,” he said. “And I’ll just let God have the handlebars.”

Russell and pitcher Danny Hultzen were the Cubs’ only players who were non-tendered at the deadline. Hultzen is not yet arbitration-eligible.

Six arbitration-eligible players were tendered: Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora, Kyle Ryan and Javy Baez (who is in contract talks on a potential long-term deal).

Also, recently acquired pitcher Jharel Cotton agreed to terms on a $640,000 contract for 2020.