The Padres have agreed to hire A.J. Ellis as a special assistant to GM A.J. Preller’s baseball operations department, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell (via Twitter).
Ellis’s precise role remains to be seen, but it obviously will not be as a uniformed player. He’ll wrap up his playing career after spending parts of eleven seasons in the majors.
It’s at least a bit of a surprise to see Ellis hang up his spikes now. After all, he turned in 183 plate appearances of .272/.378/.344 hitting last year for the San Diego organization. As ever, he compensated for a lack of power with outstanding plate discipline and contact ability.
In his 2,303 total plate appearances in the big leagues, Ellis managed only 44 long balls and a .113 isolated power mark, but walked at a hefty 12.2% rate. He managed to be nearly a league-average overall offensive producer by carrying a 5.5% swinging-strike rate and offering at pitches out of the zone at less than a twenty percent clip. (Check the 2018 leaderboards in SwStr and O-Swing% and you’ll see how notable those figures are.)
Ellis finished out his career with the Phillies, Marlins, and Friars, but he will be remembered best for his longstanding tenure with the Dodgers — and, in particular, his relationship with the great Clayton Kershaw. The two shared the field for 829 total innings, even though most of Ellis’s nine seasons in Los Angeles came in a reserve role. When the end came for Ellis in L.A. in the middle of the 2016 season, the two friends were moved to tears. Ellis also had a rather notable run of postseason success for the Dodgers, turning in a .365/.450/.615 slash in 61 total plate appearances, though he never had a chance to play in a World Series.
Why not make him the coach? Anyone is better than Green. Oh yeah, then they might win a few games and lose draft stock. Can’t have that…
They got Barajas coming onto the bench
Triple a manager
He will be the manager when everything is said and done
What a fan you are
No fan really likes opie. Just watch him and you can tell he is clueless. I firmly believe Barajas will be the next manager when the team is ready to go.
Great shot at AJ’s Mug
Mrs. Apple Jacks is proud.
I literally have been using MLBTR for years and just had to NOW activate an account just to say…
HOW MANY AJs IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE IN ONE PARAGRAPH?!? Sheesh!
Huh?
You win.
All they need now is AJ Burnett as their pitching coach, BJ Ryan as their bullpen coach, BJ Surhoff as their hitting coach, and CJ Nitkowski as a minor league pitching coach.
AJ Soprano is available, and he can hit even better than his old man.
Don’t forget BJ Upton as baserunning coach!
What a great pick up.great comment, I liked it and didn’t notice myself
I got it! funny…
AJ, special assistant to AJ, according to AJ.
Couldn’t find anyone at MLBTR named A.J to publish this?
Is the “baseball ops” role getting his BFF Kershaw to come play for SD?
Haha that was awesome, when “veterans” of the Dodgers forced the team to send Puig back to the minors in 2016 and then he traded Ellis (Kershaw’s personal catcher) the next day to try and send a message about who is in charge.
Puig traded Ellis? Now that’s a scoop
I’ve never met one person named AJ…probably because I haven’t been to San Diego!
I grew up in San Diego, and I’ve actually known several people named AJ. I never understood the connection till now
Hey Austin! Good news old man Ellis won’t be on the roster to outperform you offensively…
Bad news, Meija will take on that role….
In all 50-60 games Mejia gets to play behind the plate. Mejia had 4 PB and 3 WP in 10 games. Hedges is at the top of the list when it comes to catcher’s defense and his offense was above average for catchers. Mejia is not going to displace him as the #1 catcher in SD.
link to legacy.baseballprospectus.com
The Padres have a greater need for offense than they do hedges defense. There is no arguing hedges defense, it is beyond elite. But in a lineup that literally has several holes, they need bats. Everywhere. If the lineup was producing, then yes, you can hide hedges down in the 8 hole…. but that’s not the case. But when you’re entire lineup is hitting .250 or under, striking out at massive rates, scoring less runs than any team in baseball seemingly year in and year out…. then yes, you can replace a defensive wizard for a guy with a better bat. People look at the situation all wrong. It’s about team needs. And the team can sacrifice defense for runs at this point. They need it. Desperately.
The hilarious part is that some people still do argue Hedges’ defense
BJ Upton and CJ Wilson are signing minor league deals.
DJ Boston just secured a minor league job.
EJ Manual wants to play baseball.
JR Ewing wants to buy the club.
RJ Reynolds wants a broadcasting gig.
CC Sabathia will end his career with the Padres.
JJ Dillion will be the next manager.
CJ Cron demands a trade as soon as he’s eligible.
DJ Dozier decides to take a shot at being the first 50-year-old two-sport pro and accepts a spring training invite.
DB Cooper is spotted in the seats behind home plate.
Forgot Mr. JD Drew
We’ll give JD Drew this:
JD Drew is holding out until Bryce and Manny sign.
San Diego has a classy guy in Ellis who was a great defensive catcher, a good guy all around, and one who respect the sport. I wonder what impact that will have Kershaw when the time comes.
And of course, we know people usually stay classy in San Diego
Is Ellis taking the same route Ausmus just took with the Angels? I like the idea of having the guy in house for a year to learn the system and players before stepping into the manager role
He’s doing the same thing Mark Loretta did… waiting around for another job on a better ballclub. I have my good days and bad days with this team. But I’m so sick of them being a pitstop for active and former players. They should be called the San Diego Doormats.
would have preferred him to wussel martin
Biggest move the Padres have made all offseason.
Surprised there was no post prior to this: “Padres interested in AJ Ellis”
Hahaha! Great call. To be followed by all of us complaining about how much they pay him and how he is blocking the young front office hot lava talent from being able to step in and get the job done as if it is our money being spent. I’m guilty. I admit it.
Good depth signing
The Dodgers should have tried to bring him back in any capacity simply to work with Clayton Kershaw. Unfortunately Friedman doesn’t understand nothing other than numbers.
anything*
Maybe he learned that leaking reports to the media generally d
Doesn’t lead to a happy clubhouse. Its no surprise that AJ wasn’t brought back, but a guy like Utley is still welcomed back.
So you are saying that when Ellis got the boot, the Dodgers clubhouse was happy?
Not really what I’m saying at all. I sort of chuckle when people say Friedman is only about the numbers. It was clear from the moment he took over the state of the locker room was in flux. And he’s done a pretty amazing job phasing out the toxicity. As immature as Puig probably was to deal with, it’s kind of funny how the leaks stop filtering after the trade. AJ isn’t a Dodger for a reason and probably won’t be for the same reason.
So you are saying that Ellis was toxic? Hmm. I think he is smart, knowledgable, and was probably not shy about either one. It appeared to me from the start that politics was why he was shipped out. He won’t be back for as long as Friedman is running the show, and that’s a loss to the Dodgers and a gain for somebody else.
Why isn’t Friedman going after him. They seem to be collecting washed up catchers after letting Grandal go.
Ellis was essentially a player-coach both for the other catchers in the Padres system and for the younger pitchers last season so it makes sense to keep him around in some capacity. It is also interesting to note how many former players that became special assistants to the GM went on to coach or manage in the majors.
What is the derogatory term that Padres fans use for Padres manager Andy Green? Opie? I don’t think Opie is long for the Padres. As they completed their rebuilds, most teams have also made a managerial change. The Astros, the Cubs, the Nationals, and even the Red Sox and Dodgers as they finished building their AL and NL championship teams. I think the Padres will go the same way after 2019 if they are not above .500.
Let’s see …
First, he was going to be fired in May, 2017 … then June … then came his extension.
Then he was going to be fired last year in May, June, July, August … then in the offseason.
… and on … and on … and on …
Sadly, Green isn’t getting fired anytime soon. There was no reason to extend him when they did and certainly not for as long as they did unless they planned to roll with him. The Diamondbacks only gave Lovullo two extra years when he was one year removed from winning NL Manager of the Year.
I have always liked AJ Ellis. I was really disappointed with the Dodgers traded him. I really hope he does well in this new job.
Love this guy. I thought he was so good for our organization last year that I wrote him a letter thanking him, especially for being such a team guy when they traded for Mejia and he lost all playing time. So glad he’s sticking around, though I think he still has more in the tank for a team!