Mets Reportedly Hire A.J. Ellis as Strategy Coordinator: Kershaw's Old Catcher Joins Andy Green's Staff

The Mets have not announced it yet, but according to multiple reports A.J. Ellis is coming to Queens. Will Sammon of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the club is hiring the former catcher as its major-league strategy coordinator, and the New York Post's Mike Puma had a source confirm the move as well. Until the team makes it official, treat the details as reported, not final.

Who A.J. Ellis is

If you watched the Dodgers at any point in the 2010s, you remember him. Ellis was an 18th-round pick who carved out parts of 11 big-league seasons, most of them in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2016. He was never the flashy bat in that lineup. His value was behind the plate, and he became the catcher Clayton Kershaw trusted during the best stretch of Kershaw's career.

After Los Angeles he made stops with the Phillies and Marlins, then finished up with the 2018 Padres. The manager in San Diego that year was Andy Green, which is the detail that makes this hire click. Ellis went straight from the clubhouse to the Padres front office, where he has worked as a special assistant on the major-league staff and in baseball operations. The White Sox even looked at him during their 2024 managerial search.

This would be his first coaching job in the majors.

What a "strategy coordinator" does

The title is new enough that nobody outside the building can say exactly what his day will look like. The Post reports he is expected to help the pitching side with game plans and pitch-calling. That fits everything Ellis was known for as a player: reading hitters, sequencing pitches and keeping a staff on the same page.

Think of it as a bridge between the numbers the front office produces and the decisions a catcher has to make in real time with a runner on second and a full count. The Mets already lean heavily on data. What they have been missing is someone who has lived the job and can turn a scouting report into something a pitcher actually believes in.

How it fits Green's rebuilt staff

Green took over in May after Carlos Mendoza was let go, earned a contract extension after the team steadied under him, and is now putting his own stamp on the dugout. Ellis is the second addition this fall, after Mariano Duncan joined the big-league staff last month. Jeff Albert is gone as director of hitting, Justin Willard is the pitching coach, and the club is still looking for another offensive voice.

Notice the pattern. Duncan and Ellis both bring years of real playing experience into a room that has been criticized for feeling more like a lab than a clubhouse. After a 74-88 last-place finish, Green seems to want people who have been through the grind themselves.

The fan take

This is not the kind of move that sells tickets, and nobody is going to buy an Ellis jersey. But the little hires add up. The Mets have a young rotation coming, with Nolan McLean leading the way, and a young staff needs help with game plans as much as it needs velocity. If Ellis can do for these arms a fraction of what he did for Kershaw, the Mets will have gotten a lot out of a quiet November hire.

The bigger questions this winter will be about bats and free agents. Still, it is encouraging to see Green building a staff on purpose instead of by accident. Welcome to Queens, A.J. Let's go Mets.