Dean Anna

Dean William Anna

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• School John A. Logan College, Ball State University
• High School Lincoln-Way East High School
• Debut April 4, 2014
• Final Game April 23, 2015
• Born November 24, 1986 in Gary, IN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Dean Anna made his major league debut in 2014.

Anna hit .340 in high school and also played basketball (point guard) and golf. In junior college, he hit .340 overall, but .359 with a .554 slugging percentage as a sophomore. He transferred to Ball State in 2008 and batted .319/.464/.628 with 63 runs and 11 home runs in 52 games. He was 5th in the Mid-American Conference in OBP, third in OPS, second to Matt Stiffler in runs, tied Marc Krauss for 4th in total bases (130), second to Krauss in walks (46) and first with 7 triples. He tied for 12th in NCAA Division I in triples. The San Diego Padres, behind scout Jeff Stewart, took Anna in the 26th round of the 2008 amateur draft.

As a utility infielder, Dean played for the 2008 AZL Padres (.250/.267/.341 in 13 games) and Eugene Emeralds (.224/.366/.355, 10 steals in 11 tries in 30 games). He had the same role in 2009 with the Emeralds (.310/.416/.517 in 39 games) and Fort Wayne TinCaps (.200/.281/.236 in 17 games). He got into 80 games for the 2010 TinCaps, mainly backing up Jonathan Galvez at shortstop but also seeing action at second base, third base, right field and left field. He hit .271/.381/.431 for one of the team's best OBP, ahead of Nate Freiman and Jedd Gyorko among others. In 2011, Anna played all four infield spots and the corner outfield positions for the Lake Elsinore Storm (.311/.400/.466 in 44 games) and San Antonio Missions (.253/.385/.384 in 70 games). He only had 41 strikeouts for the year, while drawing 60 walks and scoring 70 runs. He tied Steve Tolleson for 7th in the Padres chain in walks. With San Antonio in 2012, he backed up Galvez at second and Jeudy Valdez at short, hitting .271/.377/.393 with 66 walks, 10 home runs and 75 runs. Despite not being a starter, he tied for 9th in the Texas League in runs and tied Jurickson Profar for 7th in walks. He led Padres minor leaguers in walks (one ahead of Cody Decker) and tied Matt Clark for 7th in runs. Anna continued to raise his stock early in 2013 with the Tucson Padres and was hitting .341/.423/.516 with 26 doubles, 36 walks, 58 runs and 46 RBI after 82 games. He did not quite hold that pace all the way until the end of the season, but still finished at .331/.410/.482 in 132 games, with 38 doubles, 9 homers, 90 runs scored and 73 RBI. He was named to the Pacific Coast League's postseason All-Star team.

Acquired by the New York Yankees in return for pitcher Ben Paullus on November 21st, he managed to win a job as a back-up with the team during spring training in 2014, although given the age and uncertain health of may of the Yankees' regulars, he was expected to see significant playing time. He made his debut on April 4th against the Toronto Blue Jays as the starting shortstop in place of Derek Jeter, after 554 games in the minor leagues. He went 1 for 4 with a run and a walk, his first big league hit a single off Jeremy Jeffress in the 9th inning. He hit his first major league homer against Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox on April 10th, a solo shot in a 4-1 Yankees win. On April 19th, he had to play a more unfamiliar position as he was called on to pitch the 8th inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays in which the Yankees were already trailing, 14-1, after starting the game at shortstop. He gave up a pair of runs on three hits in what was his first pitching appearance as a professional. The fairy tale only lasted so long, however, as on April 24th, the Yankees, desperate for pitching with Ivan Nova lost for the season and Michael Pineda having been handed a ten-game suspension, sent him back to AAA to add a couple of arms. He was hitting only .136 with a homer and 3 RBI. Apart from a lone at bat with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2015, this April stint was the entirety of his big league ride. In February 2019, Dean announced his retirement.

Sources

• 2013 Padres Media Guide
• BSU bio
• The Baseball Cube

Further Reading

• Bob Nightengale: "Yankees find minimum-wage gold", USA Today, April 22, 2014. [1]

Related Sites

• Dean Anna at mlb.com
• BR Minors page