Xavier Clifford Nady VI (; born November 14, 1978) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. Nady played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants, and the San Diego Padres.
Amateur career
Nady was named Northern California Player of the Year in his senior year of high school. The St. Louis Cardinals originally drafted Nady in the fourth round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft (134th overall), but he did not sign professionally at that time. Nady instead attended University of California, Berkeley, where he set the all-time Pac-10 Conference record for career slugging percentage (.729) for the California Golden Bears baseball team.
Professional career
San Diego Padres
Nady was drafted in the second round of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres (49th overall). Nady signed a major league contract and became the 18th player to go directly to the major leagues without making his professional debut in the minor leagues since .
Nady only appeared in one major league game before being sent to the minor leagues. He was named Padres Minor League Player of the Year in , also collecting the California League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards that season. Nady underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2001 season and had limited playing time in . In , he again returned to the major league level for part of the season, but spent most of his time in the minor leagues.
In late June , Nady became the first Padre since Greg Vaughn (in ) to homer in four consecutive games.
New York Mets
The Padres traded him to the New York Mets for Mike Cameron on November 18, 2005. Nady underwent an emergency appendectomy early in the morning on May 30, 2006. As a result, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and returned to the lineup on June 18.
Pittsburgh Pirates
On July 30, 2006, Mets set-up relief pitcher Duaner Sánchez was injured when the cab in which he was a passenger was broadsided. The Mets' pitching corps was already depleted with star pitcher Pedro Martínez on the disabled list. Desperate for pitching, the Mets were forced to give up Nady, their starting right fielder, to the Pirates in exchange for pitchers Óliver Pérez and Roberto Hernández.
New York Yankees
On July 26, 2008, the New York Yankees acquired Nady and pitcher Dámaso Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates for José Tábata, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen, and Jeff Karstens.
Nady had a career-high six (6) RBIs as the Yankees came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels on August 3, 2008. He finished the 2008 season setting career-highs in home runs (25) and runs batted in (97), and had a .305 batting average.
On January 21, 2009, Nady signed a one-year contract worth $6.65 million with the Yankees, thus avoiding arbitration. On April 14, 2009, Nady suffered a right-elbow injury which ultimately required a second Tommy John surgery on July 8, despite an initial attempt to rehab the injury. The surgery ended his 2009 season. As a result, Nick Swisher took over in Nady's position for the remainder of the 2009 season. Nady spent the season (including the postseason) on the disabled list until the Yankees won the 2009 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He filed for free agency following the conclusion of the 2009 season.
While Nady played only seven games for the Yankees in 2009, he did receive a World Series ring following the team's Series victory that season.
Chicago Cubs
On January 29, 2010, Nady signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. On May 16, 2010, Nady hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning against the Pirates, as the Cubs won 4–3. Nady finished the season with a .256 batting average, six home runs and 33 runs batted in. He became a free agent after the end of the season.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Nady signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on December 15, 2010. He became a free agent after the end of the season.
Washington Nationals
Nady signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals on March 18, 2012. He was called up by the Nationals on April 4. Following a trip to the disabled list midway through the season, Nady was designated for assignment on July 21, 2012 and released on July 29, 2012. Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, a rookie during the 2012 season, later named Nady among the veteran teammates from whom he learned early on in his playing career.
