Mets Install A.J. Ellis as Strategy Coordinator Under Stearns

David Stearns hired A.J. Ellis as strategy coordinator Tuesday, bringing the 11-year veteran catcher into the Mets' front office structure. Ellis caught 1,041 games between 2008 and 2018, primarily for the Dodgers, where he worked with Clayton Kershaw and handled advanced pitch-sequencing responsibilities. The role did not exist last season.

The hire slots into Stearns' ongoing rebuild of the Mets' baseball operations layer, which began when Steve Cohen installed him as president last winter after the Carlos Correa pursuit collapsed in public. Ellis joins a front office that already added scouting director Marc Tramuta from the Rays and reshuffled analytics reporting lines in February. The strategy coordinator title typically covers opponent preparation, pitch design collaboration, and in-game decision modeling—work that used to live inside the manager's office but now requires dedicated infrastructure.

Ellis brings credibility with veteran players, which matters when Stearns is trying to install process discipline on a roster that includes Francisco Lindor's $341 million contract and Edwin Díaz returning from a knee injury that cost the Mets most of 2023. Strategy coordinators sit in a narrow space: too junior to override the manager, too senior to ignore. The role works when the coordinator has played recently enough to speak the language but brings enough analytical fluency to translate front-office priorities into dugout vocabulary. Ellis fits. He caught for Andrew Friedman in Los Angeles, worked as a special assistant in San Diego under A.J. Preller, and spent last season as a minor-league coach in the Padres system. That résumé suggests comfort operating inside a front-office-driven model, which is what Stearns is installing in Queens.

The timing is worth noting. Ellis arrives two weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie, which means Stearns wanted this seat filled before Spring Training game-planning begins. The Mets are still finalizing their catching depth chart—Francisco Alvarez is the incumbent, but the backup role remains unsettled after Omar Narváez's departure. Ellis will advise on that decision, and his presence creates a cleaner path for Alvarez to access pitch-design work without overloading manager Carlos Mendoza's staff. It also creates optionality: if Mendoza's bench coach or hitting coach leaves in the next two years, Ellis is already inside the system and familiar with the roster.

This hire sits inside a broader pattern. The Cubs lost farm director Jason Kanzler to the Mariners as their new manager on Tuesday, three weeks after assistant general manager Jared Banner left for Baltimore. Front offices are getting picked apart earlier in the calendar than they used to, which accelerates Stearns' timeline for locking in organizational infrastructure. Strategy coordinator used to be a quiet hire, an internal promotion announced in February. Now it's a contested role, filled in January, often with playing experience as table stakes.

Watch for two follow-on moves before camp opens. First, whether the Mets add a veteran backup catcher or promote from within—Ellis' presence makes the latter option safer because Alvarez gains an experienced voice without forcing the roster to carry an expensive insurance policy. Second, whether Stearns continues to add front-office layer between himself and the field staff, which would signal he's building for a multi-year window rather than optimizing for 2025. The next hire is usually an advance scout or run-prevention coordinator. Ellis fills one gap; the org chart still has room.