The Phillies traded the 37-year-old catcher to the Los Angeles Dodgers for catcher A.J. Ellis, minor league pitcherTommy Bergjans and a player to be named later Thursday. You play with guys your entire career and now you see them in different uniforms.
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Ellis, 35, is best known as Kershaw’s catcher of preference, credited as a key component in developing a supremely talented, but raw 19-year-old into the bona fide ace and three-time Cy Young victor the Dodgers boast today.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said that team leadership and chemistry were all taken into account, suggesting that the front office chewed on the deal for multiple days.
The fact that the trade happened a day after Ruiz cleared waivers is not overly surprising. The Dodgers scored a run on the play that was ruled a hit. “I’m a little shocked”, Justin Turner told reporters from his locker.
Ellis did a lot for the Dodgers in community, and went on a hospital visit Tuesday.
“Shocked. Quiet”, Ellis said of Kershaw’s reaction upon hearing the news, according to MLB.com. He said his tenure in particular was something he was very proud of. I think he really brought that presence that not everybody can really have where he can get along with everybody and really help everybody’s careers.
“This is really, really hard”, Ellis said, his eyes taking one last scan of Dodger Stadium in the afternoon. To not be able to call it home anymore, it’s really tough. It’s awesome how fast things can change.
“It’s a necessary move because we only have one left-hander”, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of his bullpen. “When I was a kid, this was a big dream”. He is no longer the plus offensive catcher of 2009-2012, but he is a solid defensive player who hits left handed pitching well. “I’d like to go and win this thing”. “Not much was said”. Ellis said he and ace cried together after learning about the trade.
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Thursday, Ellis said the most “devastating” aspect of the trade is the likelihood that he would never catch the three-time Cy Young Award victor again. On his first day as a Dodger, Carlos Ruiz found himself next door to Clayton Kershaw, a close friend of Ellis and one of his strongest advocates in the organization. “He’s contributed a lot to the culture that’s here and the winning environment”. Not only as the guy, everybody talks about the guy he was, but he was pretty good there for a while, and one of the better postseason guys that we’ve ever had. The catcher returned to Philadelphia on Friday morning, but first he stopped at the Citi Field clubhouse and wrote a message to his former teammates.
