The Cubs have reportedly settled with a host of their arbitration-eligible players, including suspended shortstop Addison Russell.
Russell is reported to be getting a one-year deal worth $3.4 million, with bonuses built in should he be on the major league roster for a certain number of days this season following the conclusion of his suspension — handed down by Major League Baseball at the end of last season in the wake of detailed descriptions of mental, emotional and physical abuse by Russell's ex-wife, Melisa Reidy — which will last through roughly the first month of the season.
Some of that $3.4 million will be taken out of Russell's salary while he's suspended, so the bonuses allow him a chance to make that money back should he stay on the roster, as explained by the Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmeyer.
Russell, though, wasn't the only Cub to reportedly agree to a new deal and avoid the arbitration process. Reports have numbers for third baseman Kris Bryant, NL MVP runner-up Javy Báez, starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks, outfielder Kyle Schwarber, swingman Mike Montgomery and relief pitcher C.J. Edwards.
These numbers have long been projected, but with the contracts officially agreed to, the Cubs now have an even more exact layout of their 2019 payroll, a big roadblock in their ability to augment the roster this offseason.
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