The Royals have released outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady, according to the Pacific Coast League's transactions page. Nady had been playing on a minor league deal that he agreed to after being cut in advance of the Article XX(B) free agent retention bonus deadline, back in late March. It is not presently known whether Nady exercised an opt out clause to trigger his release, or indeed whether he had any such clause in his contract.
Nady was hitting a robust .310/.382/.486 in 289 plate appearances for the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. After a well-documented power outage over his last several seasons, moreover, Nady had swatted a promising 11 home runs thus far for Omaha. In a combined 166 big league plate appearances last season for the Nationals and Giants, Nady hit just .184/.253/.316.