Former Angels Outfielder Joins NL Contender as Coach

He is now working as a coach.

Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have hired former Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jon Jay as a coach on the team's major league staff. Jay spent the final season of his playing career with the Angels, and has since begun a career in coaching.

We have hired Jon Jay as a Coach on the Major League staff.

Jay, a former Cardinals outfielder from 2010-2015, has spent the past two seasons on the Miami Marlins coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/9wb0Bdha6q

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 22, 2024

Jay earned his first coaching job with the Miami Marlins, who hired him in Nov. 2022 as their first base coach. Jay spent two seasons with the Marlins before he was fired alongside the Marlins entire coaching staff.

Jay now gets his second coaching job with the Cardinals, who finished the 2024 campaign 83-79 to narrowly miss out on the postseason. The Cardinals also hired Brant Brown as their hitting coach.

Before joining the Cardinals as an assistant coach, Jay had ties to the organization after beginning his playing career in St. Louis. The Cardinals drafted Jay in the second round of the 2006 MLB Draft, and he made his MLB debut in 2010.

In his second season with the Cardinals, Jay helped the team defeat the Texas Rangers to win the World Series. During the Cardinals' postseason run that season, Jay recorded 10 hits, eight runs, and three RBIs. In the World Series, Jay notched two hits and one run in the victory.

Over his first five seasons with the Cardinals, Jay found a consistent role with the team, playing in at least 100 games each of those seasons. During the 2015 season, Jay endured several injuries to his wrist, which limited him to 79 games. After the conclusion of the season, the Cardinals traded Jay to the San Diego Padres for Jedd Gyorko.

Jay would go on to have brief stints with the Padres, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chicago White Sox from 2016-20 before signing with the Angels in Feb. 2021. Jay signed with the Angels on a minor league contract, and went back and forth between the majors and minors when he joined the Angels. He was released by the Angels and re-signed multiple times during his tenure there.

Jay was officially released by the organization in July 2021, and announced his retirement the following April. He appeared in five games for the Angels, hitting .357 with five hits, two runs, and one RBI.