Addison Russell probe in 3rd month; agent anticipates SS being cleared

By Gordon Wittenmyer

Addison Russell at Thursday’s Bears game.

PHOENIX — The agent for Cubs shortstop Addison Russell believes his client “absolutely” will be cleared by Major League Baseball of allegations of domestic violence.

But MLB’s investigation remains “ongoing,” according to league officials, more than two months after Russell was accused in a third-party Instagram post of physically abusing his wife.

It’s unclear why the process has taken this long without reaching a resolution or a secondary investigative phase involving the union. Russell’s wife said through an attorney two weeks after her friend posted the allegation that she had declined to talk to MLB about the issue.

Russell and his wife filed for divorce separately in June.

A Sun-Times search of police and court records in Florida and Chicago in June failed to turn up any legal action against Russell.

“I believe in these types of events that we’ve done our due diligence, and they have to take their time to do theirs,” agent Scott Boras said of MLB officials. “And we’re just awaiting their process.”

Russell, who is on the disabled list with a foot injury, remained in Chicago to rehab.

An All-Star last year, Russell has struggled this season, hitting .241 with 10 homers and a .305 on-base percentage.

“The game is difficult, and your personal life is a part of management of what you do as a professional athlete,” Boras said of how Russell has handled the accusation and outside scrutiny. “Each athlete has a barometer for it, and certainly our advice to Addison has been that, no different than a lot of professionals, you have to really know how to focus when your hand touches the locker room door, and try to take from that what you’ve learned about your performance and your career and be myopic for that timeframe.

“And then you can at the end of the day take whatever time is needed for you to make advances in your personal life.”

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Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com