(670 The Score) Major League Baseball has suspended Cubs shortstop Addison Russell for 40 games without pay for violating the joint domestic violence policy.
The suspension is retroactive to Sept. 21, when Russell was placed on administrative leave and left the team. Russell has agreed to not appeal the decision, the league said, and he will partake in a confidential and comprehensive evaluation and treatment program supervised by the joint policy board.
The determination came after the league oversaw an investigation into accusations of physical, emotional and verbal abuse against Russell that were leveled by his ex-wife, Melisa Reidy-Russell. The two were married in 2016 and split in 2017.
Russell was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 21, the day that the allegations widely circulated after a blog post by Reidy-Russell in which she wrote that Russell "put his hands on me."
Russell, 24, had previously been accused of domestic violence in a social media post by one of Reidy-Russell's friends in June 2017, at which point MLB opened an investigation that stalled when Reidy-Russell didn't talk with league officials. The case remained opened, and Reidy-Russell spoke with investigators this time.
Russell has called the allegations "completely false."
Russell's future with the Cubs is now in serious jeopardy. In a press conference after Russell was placed on administrative leave, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein didn't back Russell when asked about him as a person and about his character.
"I would say that I know him in a baseball context," Epstein said.
Russell hit .250 with five homers and 38 RBIs in 130 games this season. He struggled mightily late in the year, hitting .158 with a .377 OPS in September before going on leave from the Cubs.
Counting Game 163, the Cubs played 11 regular-season games since Russell was placed on administrative leave, which would mean 29 games are left on his suspension.
