Tony Medrano

Anthony Reyes Medrano

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.
• High School David Starr Jordan High School

• Born December 8, 1974 in Bellflower, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Tony Medrano played nine seasons in AAA but never made the majors.

Medrano hit .351 as a high school senior, winning second-team All-American honors from Baseball America; the first-team infielders were Alex Rodriguez, Scott Rolen and Kelly Dransfeldt. The Toronto Blue Jays took him in the second round of the 1993 amateur draft; the pick was compensation for the loss of David Cone to free agency.

Tony made his pro debut with the GCL Blue Jays and hit .266/.322/.323. In 1994, the teenager spent six games with that club (8 for 22, 4 2B, HR) and played most of the year for the Dunedin Blue Jays (.236/.288/.367, .962 fielding at short). That off-season, he was again tied in with Cone, as Toronto dealt him with Chris Stynes and David Sinnes to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for the right-handed hurler.

Medrano split 1995 between the Wilmington Blue Rocks (.285/.338/.374, .963 FLD at SS) and Wichita Wranglers (0 for 5). He was 6th in the Carolina League in batting average and .002 shy of leading the loop's shortstops in fielding percentage. He was named to the league All-Star as a utility infielder; Enrique Wilson was chosen as the shortstop. He was with Wichita for all of '96 and hit okay for a middle infielder (.274/.302/.384) but fielded only .934 with 36 errors, a sharp drop-off from past seasons. He led Texas League shortstops in errors.

In 1997, Medrano was a utility infielder for Wichita (.246/.297/.312) and the Omaha Royals (.203/.242/.407 in 17 G), making it to AAA while still only 22 years old. Back with Wichita in '98, he played at least 30 games at second base, shortstop and third base and hit .306/.378/.465 with a career-high 10 homers in his last season with no AAA action. He backed up Carlos Febles at second, Kit Pellow at third and Alex Prieto at short.

Tony split 1999 between Wichita (.339/.389/.463 in 73 G) and Omaha (.313/.368/.438 in 33 G) to post his best average, OBP and slugging. Had he qualified, he would have been third in the Texas League in average behind Adam Piatt and Jeff DaVanon. He also caught and pitched that year (1 IP, 3 H, 0 R) and had now played every position during his career. In 2000, Medrano hit .266/.314/.367 for Omaha with 18 steals in 26 tries; he played at least 20 games at each first base, second base, shortstop, third base and the outfield.

The utility man moved to the Cleveland Indians chain in 2001 and hit .290/.367/.399 for the Buffalo Bisons, with career highs in hits (135), doubles (28), steals (21 in 28 attempts) and walks (54). He had the best average of any Buffalo player who appeared in over half the team's contests. Tony began 2002 back with Buffalo (.220/.284/.284 in 74 G) before being dealt to the Montréal Expos in exchange for Nick Dempsey. Assigned to the Ottawa Lynx, he recovered his bat (.270/.352/.345 in 53 G).

In 2003, Medrano batted .245/.335/.315 for the Edmonton Trappers. For the first time in years, he was back as a full-time shortstop, fielding .975. He led the PCL's shortstops in fielding percentage and tied Manny Alexander for the most double plays (80). The Expos, though, were getting one heck of a season from Orlando Cabrera (.297, 47 2B, 17 HR, 24 SB, 95 R) and had no need for Medrano's services.

Tony hit .308/.372/.391 as a middle infielder for the 2004 Trappers. He was stuck behind Jose Vidro at second and Cabrera at short, while a younger Maicer Izturis was called up as a backup middle infielder during the season. In '05, Medrano was the starting second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies' Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons but struggled at the plate - .221/.281/.286. He did lead International League second sackers with 82 twin killings. Tony ended his playing career after 14 seasons, with the 2006 New Orleans Zephyrs, with a meek .227/.326/.240 in 39 games. Overall, he had batted .270/.331/.366 in 1,449 minor league contests, over half of them at AAA.

Medrano then became a coach, first with the 2008 GCL Indians and then the 2009-2010 AZL Indians. In 2011-2016, he was manager of the AZL Indians. He coached for the Mexican national team in the 2015 Premier 12 and 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2011	AZL Indians	Arizona League	30-26	5th	Cleveland Indians
2012	AZL Indians	Arizona League	31-25	6th (t)	Cleveland Indians
2013	AZL Indians	Arizona League	28-28	7th	Cleveland Indians	Lost in 1st round
2014	AZL Indians	Arizona League	37-16	1st	Cleveland Indians	League Champs
2015	AZL Indians	Arizona League	23-33	12th (t)	Cleveland Indians
2016	AZL Indians	Arizona League	31-25	4th (t)	Cleveland Indians	Lost in 1st round
2017	AZL Indians	Arizona League	15-41	15th	Cleveland Indians