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Good practice, kids. Now it's time for the easiest part of any coach's job. The cuts. Although I wasn't able to cut everyone I wanted to, I have cut a lot of you. Wendell is cut. Rudy is cut. Janey, you're gone. Steven, I like your hustle....
That's why it was so hard to cut you.
-Homer Simpson
The Royals today announced that non-roster invitee pitcher George Sherill and outfielder Xavier Nady had both been released. Both players were Article XX(B) free agents, meaning the club had to pay $100,000 to retain them, or they had to release them by noon today. Bob Dutton writes that the club would like to retain both, but as for now they are free agents free to negotiate with anyone.
Sherrill, a situational left-handed reliever, will turn 36 in a few weeks. He did not appear in a single spring training game for the Royals as he is still recovering from Tommy John surgery from last May.
The 34 year-old Nady hit just .184/.253/.316 for the Nationals and Giants last year as a right-handed bat off the bench, and has seen has career decline rapidly since Tommy John surgery in 2009. He was dealing with plantar fascitis in spring training, limiting him to just 13 games, but he hit .346 in 26 at bats in Cactus League play.
Sherill and Nady join a long list of minor league agents released this week that includes catcher Rod Barajas, infielder Yuniesky Betancourt, and pitchers Matt Capps, Freddy Garcia, Mark Lowe, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
David Lough hit .455 in Cactus League play, generating buzz with his play, leading some to speculate he might be the left-handed bat the Royals were looking for to split time with Jeff Franceour in right. However the Royals optioned the 27 year-old left-handed bat to Omaha, leaving Jarrod Dyson as the only reserve outfielder on the roster.
The Royals have just 33 players left in camp, not counting Felipe Paulino and Danny Duffy, who will begin the year on the 60-day disabled list.