Theo Epstein Says Addison Russell’s Conditional Return ‘Not a Finish Line’

Theo Epstein joined 670 The Score Wednesday afternoon to discuss the flurry of roster moves and the bigger implications of them, most notably the return of Addison Russell to Chicago. This comes less than a week after Russell was optioned to Triple-A Iowa at the conclusion of his 40-game domestic violence suspension, so it’s certainly earlier than what a lot of us had suspected.

Because Javy Báez is firmly entrenched at shortstop, Russell will be playing second base and batting eighth for the Cubs Wednesday. It’s but the first tiny step in what Epstein called a “conditional second chance.” Rather than look at this as the culmination of a process, however, the Cubs’ baseball boss was adamant…