Last season the Los Angeles Dodgers made the surprising decision to trade A.J. Ellis to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for fellow backup catcher Carlos Ruiz. At the time, Ellis was the longest-tenured player in the Dodgers organization at 13 years.
He’d garnered the respect of teammates and coaches and was particularly close to Clayton Kershaw. In his final interview from the Dodgers dugout, Ellis touched on the difficult nature in needing to say goodbye to not only teammates but friends.
After playing out the 2016 season with the Phillies, he signed with the Miami Marlins during the offseason.