LOS ANGELES >> There was no team meeting to announce the trade Thursday, just a group of forlorn men learning one by one that the longest tenured player in the Dodgers clubhouse had been traded.
After A.J. Ellis learned he was going to the Philadelphia Phillies in a swap of backup catchers for Carlos Ruiz, he called his wife, then his agent, then texted his best friend, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
“I had him come out and meet me here in the dugout,” Ellis said. “Not much was said. We just kind of sat here together. Baseball’s funny.