Report: Padres to hire C Ellis in baseball ops

Veteran catcher A.J. Ellis will be hired by the San Diego Padres as a special assistant in the team's baseball operations department, according to a report published Monday. Per MLB.com, the 37-year-old Ellis, a backup catcher for the Padres last season, likely will retire after 11 big league seasons.

Ellis would work under executive VP and GM A.J. Preller, who has been with San Diego since 2014. Ellis joined the team after signing a minor league contract last winter and hit .272 with one homer and 15 RBIs in 66 games in 2018.

Originally an 18th-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2003 draft, Ellis broke into the majors in 2008 and remained a Dodger until being traded to Philadelphia in 2016. Ellis played a half-season with the Phillies and the 2017 season with the Miami Marlins before signing with San Diego in 2018. In 672 career games, Ellis has a .239 average with a .340 on-base percentage, a .352 slugging percentage, 44 homers and 229 RBIs. He led the National League in catchers' caught-stealing percentage in 2015 at 45 percent, and his .997 career fielding percentage leads all active catchers.

--Field Level Media