A.J. Ellis Leaves Padres' Front Office, Joins Mets' Coaching Staff

You know you have the right people in your organization when other teams poach them.

The San Diego Padres lost a third member of the franchise Wednesday when former MLB catcher A.J. Ellis was hired by the New York Mets as their major-league strategy coordinator under new manager Andy Green. Ellis was in the Padres' front office as a special assistant to the major-league staff and baseball operations.

Ellis joins Ben Fritz, who was the Padres' bullpen coach and is now the Arizona Diamondbacks' pitching coach, and Caroline Perry, who was the chief operating officer who left to be the Los Angeles Dodgers' COO and executive vice president, in leaving San Diego since the end of the World Series.

Ellis, who spent 11 seasons in MLB (nine with the Dodgers), finished his playing career with the Padres in 2018, Green's next-to-last season as San Diego's manager, then jumped into the Friars' front office.