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Twins Add Grady Sizemore To Coaching Staff

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The Twins have hired former big league outfielder and former White Sox coach/interim manager Grady Sizemore to their coaching staff, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He’ll serve as new manager Derek Shelton’s first base coach and will also be the team’s primary outfield and baserunning instructor. Last year’s first base coach, Ramon Borrego, will slide across the diamond and coach third base. Borrego will also continue working with the team’s infielders.

Now 43 years old, Sizemore tormented the Twins as a division-rival in Cleveland during his days as a player — particularly early in his career. From 2004-08, Sizemore looked like he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory. He made three straight All-Star teams, won two Gold Gloves and took home a Silver Slugger — a testament to his well-rounded excellence. By the time Sizemore was headed into his age-26 campaign, he’d already appeared in 682 MLB games and slashed .279/.370/.491 (127 wRC+) with 111 home runs and 117 doubles in 3109 plate appearances. Baseball-Reference valued his age-21 through age-25 seasons at nearly 26 wins above replacement. FanGraphs was more bullish, crediting him with more than 28 WAR.

Of course, injuries would derail that scintillating start to Sizemore’s career. After missing only a combined nine games from 2005-08, Sizemore never topped 106 games in a single season again. He underwent elbow surgery in 2009, knee surgery in 2010 and back surgery in 2012. Sizemore played sporadically from 2009-15, hitting a combined .238/.309/.393 in just 1615 plate appearances before retiring.

After several years away from the game, Sizemore wanted back into the sport badly enough that he took an internship with the Diamondbacks. A year later, he interviewed for and landed a job on the White Sox’ coaching staff. When Chicago fired then-manager Pedro Grifol late in the 2024 season, Sizemore served as the interim manager down the stretch. He was a candidate for the managerial vacancy that went to Will Venable last offseason but was still retained in 2025, holding the title of White Sox’ offensive coordinator.

Sizemore is the latest addition to what’ll be a largely revamped Minnesota coaching staff. Borrego and pitching coach Pete Maki have been retained, but much of the rest of the staff will look different under Shelton than it did under former skipper Rocco Baldelli. Former Twin LaTroy Hawkins has already been tabbed as the team’s new bullpen coach, and the Twins have moved on from third base coach Tommy Watkins, bench coach Jayce Tingler, catching coach/assistant bench coach Hank Conger and bullpen coach Colby Suggs. They’re reportedly eyeing Yankees hitting coach James Rowson as a potential bench coach under Shelton. Rowson was also the Twins’ hitting coach from 2017-19.

Latest On Twins’ Offseason Direction

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Following the Twins’ deadline fire sale, the widespread expectation has been that they’d continue moving veteran players this offseason. That’s not necessarily the case. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey tells Dan Hayes of The Athletic that his focus is on adding to the team, not subtracting, unless he “is told otherwise” by ownership. To this point, he has not given serious consideration to trading right-handers Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan. The Pohlad family has reportedly not yet given the team’s front office a directive in terms of the budget for next season. If that eventual directive is to further lean into a rebuild, there might be another consequence: the potential acquiescence toward a trade from star center fielder Byron Buxton.

To this point, Buxton has made his desire to remain a Twin for his entire career clear. Even after this summer’s teardown of the roster, he emphasized that he had no plans to waive his no-trade clause and hoped to finish his career in Minnesota. The Twins’ offseason direction could put that loyalty to the test, as Hayes reports that Buxton might reconsider his stance if the team continues subtracting prominent players.

That’s hardly an announcement that Buxton wants out of Minnesota now, of course. It’s not impossible to see the bones of a competitive club in what the Twins still have on the roster. Lopez and Ryan are an excellent one-two combo atop the rotation. Bailey Ober had a rough 2025 season but was a quality mid-rotation arm for several years prior.

Beyond those three, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, and David Festa are all young starters with mid-rotation upside who were considered top-100 prospects before debuting in the majors. The viability of that group will mostly be decided by the futures of veterans like Lopez, Ryan and Ober, though.

While 2025 was disappointing for infielders Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, no one should be surprised if the pair of former top prospects take a step forward next year and become the sort of high-end regulars Minnesota was hoping they could be when selecting each with a top-10 overall pick. Additional young talent is on the way as well, ranging from top outfield prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez to young infielder Luke Keaschall, who impressed in 207 plate appearances this year. Ryan Jeffers is already a quality regular behind the plate. Outfielders like Matt Wallner and Alan Roden have posted huge numbers in the minors, with the former enjoying some big league success at times (but also lacking consistency). Adding a reliable bat at first base could give the Twins the makings of a decent lineup.

Last summer’s flurry of trades slashed spending enough that the Twins project for a payroll of just $95MM next year, per RosterResource, down more than $40MM from last year’s Opening Day mark. It’s fair to wonder whether those savings will be reinvested or whether further cuts will be made. If it’s the latter, or if the front office is only given minimal space to add, then Lopez (owed $21.75MM in each of the next two seasons), Ryan (arbitration-eligible through 2027) and Jeffers (arb-eligible through 2026) are natural candidates to be moved.

It would be quite an intriguing turnaround if the Twins decided to make a run at contending in 2026, though they would have to rebuild essentially the entire bullpen. Prior to the deadline, they traded away Jhoan Duran, Louis Varland, Griffin Jax, Danny Coulombe and Brock Stewart.

Should the Twins go the other way and end up dealing from that group of quality veterans, perhaps Buxton would reconsider his previously stated desire to be a Twin for life. The soon to be 32-year-old veteran will make $45MM total over the final three seasons of the extension he signed in Minnesota. He can tack on an additional $10MM of earnings each season based on plate appearances and MVP voting.

That’s a bargain for the production he provides, with a .270/.330/.540 batting line (138 wRC+), 53 home runs, 31 steals and 8.7 fWAR in 228 games the past two years. If he was available, virtually any team in baseball would have interest in bringing Buxton into the fold. Big-spending contenders like the Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and Mets all figure to be on the hunt for outfield help this winter, and if Buxton did decide to waive his no-trade clause he’d likely be able to have his pick of the litter in terms of destinations thanks to his favorable contract situation and excellent production.

Those big spending clubs wouldn’t be the only teams with interest if Buxton were to make himself available, and perhaps a team like the Astros or even Rays with payroll limitations but a strong commitment to winning nonetheless could get involved as well. Buxton’s commitment to the Twins over the years has shown he’s not afraid to try to win in a smaller market than New York or Los Angeles, though if he was to depart Minnesota it would surely be done with getting to the World Series firmly in mind after winning just one playoff series during his time with Minnesota.

Twins Rumors: Payroll, Ryan, Coaching Staff

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The Twins are expected to listen to trade offers on several of their remaining veterans after gutting the roster — particularly the bullpen — ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Right-handers Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez ranked prominently on MLBTR’s list of the offseason’s top 40 trade candidates, as did catcher Ryan Jeffers. The extent to which the Twins further subtract from the roster will at least in part stem from ownership’s budget for next year’s payroll. To this point, the Pohlad family has not given the baseball operations department “a clear direction” on next year’s payroll, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.

RosterResource currently projects a $95MM payroll for the Twins, which is down more than $40MM from their Opening Day mark in 2025. That doesn’t include potential subtractions from the arbitration class. Trevor Larnach, projected for a $4.7MM salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), stands as a non-tender or trade candidate. Obviously, trades of Ryan, Lopez and/or Jeffers would further scale back spending. Lopez is earning $21.75MM in each of the next two seasons. Ryan is projected for a $5.8MM salary. Jeffers is projected to earn $6.6MM. (Center fielder Byron Buxton is guaranteed $15MM but has a full no-trade clause and has said even after the team’s summer fire sale that he won’t consider approving a trade.)

The idea of Minnesota taking that newfound payroll flexibility and reinvesting it in a series of win-now moves to complement a roster still featuring Ryan, Lopez, Buxton, Jeffers and several promising young position players (Luke Keaschall perhaps chief among them) makes at least some sense on paper, but there’s little in the Pohlads’ history of owning the club to support the notion that they’d go that route. Further subtraction still seems likely, though until the Twins tip their hand with whatever the first moves of the offseason are, perhaps fans can hold out some faint hope for a quicker-than-expected turnaround.

Assuming they indeed operate more on the sell side of things, Ryan in particular will be one of the most sought-after names on the trade market. The Twins discussed the 29-year-old righty, who has two years of affordable arbitration control remaining, with several clubs ahead of the summer trade deadline. No deal came to pass, but the Red Sox are known to have had substantial discussions regarding the right-hander, while the Yankees and Mets were among the others to at least check in.

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds the Angels to the list of clubs that showed interest in Joe Ryan prior to the trade deadline. With the Halos set to seek pitching upgrades again this winter, it stands to reason that they could circle back and talk with the Twins this winter. The Angels’ farm system is not well regarded, though they have a fair number of young big leaguers or nearly MLB-ready arms who could pique the Twins’ interest (e.g. George Klassen, Ryan Johnson, Nelson Rada, 2025 first-rounder Tyler Bremner).

The Angels would surely face competition in any bid for Ryan. The 2025 All-Star tossed 171 innings of 3.42 ERA ball this past season, fanning 28.2% of opponents against a tidy 5.7% walk rate. He sports a career 3.79 earned run average that’s skewed a bit by an outlier 4.51 mark in 2023. Ryan has virtually no platoon split in his career, with the main blemish against him being some susceptibility to home runs (particularly in that rocky ’23 campaign). Angel Stadium, notably, has been more conducive to home runs than Minneapolis’ Target Field — both over the past three seasons and in 2025, in particular.

Much of the focus in the early stages of the offseason will be in determining exactly which direction the Twins will go and — if they indeed sell more veterans — the depth of that potential teardown. Minnesota already had a relatively well-regarded farm system prior to the deadline, and the Twins now boast one of the best minor league systems in the sport. They’re not a system that’s devoid of minor league talent, so the extent to which ownership is willing to invest in the club will be especially instructive when it comes to their 2026 outlook.

Looking beyond the roster, however, there are still some short-term decisions that need to be made in the dugout. Longtime manager Rocco Baldelli was fired at season’s end and replaced by his former bench coach from 2019, Derek Shelton. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that the Twins initially began their search for a manager with a speculative list running around 80 names deep. They whittled that to 15, conducted Zoom interviews with seven and held in-person interviews with Shelton, Yankees hitting coach James Rowson (another former Twins staffer) and former Mariners skipper Scott Servais.

The decision, per Nightengale, ultimately came down to Shelton or Rowson. While Shelton won the job in the end, the Twins are hopeful of hiring Rowson back to the organization as Shelton’s new bench coach, Nightengale reports. The rest of the staff is largely up in the air. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Twins will retain pitching coach Pete Maki, pairing him with newly hired bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins to oversee the staff in Minnesota.

Third base coach Tommy Watkins has already departed for Atlanta, and Hayes writes that assistant bench coach/catching coach Hank Conger and quality control coach Nate Dammann have both been dismissed. Decisions have yet to be made on hitting coaches Matt Borgschulte, Trevor Amicone and Rayden Sierra.

Braves Add Tony Mansolino, J.P. Martinez To Coaching Staff

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Nov. 11: Mansolino will serve as the bench coach and work with the team’s infielders rather than his previously reported role of third base coach, according to David O’Brien of the Athletic. Instead, the Braves have hired Tommy Watkins to be the third base coach, per Dan Hayes of the Athletic. Watkins was a long-time Twins coach and was given permission to interview for the role with the Braves. O’Brien adds that Eddie Perez will be remaining as a major league coach for Atlanta. The club also officially announced Dustin Garneau as catching coach, Darnell Coles as assistant hitting coach, and Tony Diaz as a major league coach.

Nov. 7: The Braves on Friday announced the hiring of former Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino as their new third base coach. He’ll take over for Fredi Gonzalez, whose departure from the staff was reported earlier in the week. Atlanta also hired former Giants pitching coach J.P. Martinez — not to be confused with the former Braves outfielder of the same name — as their new bullpen coach.

The 43-year-old Mansolino took over for O’s skipper Brandon Hyde after Baltimore dismissed him back in mid-May. He’d been Hyde’s third base coach prior to that appointment — a role he’d held dating back to the 2021 season. Mansolino was previously a hitting coach and infield coordinator in Cleveland prior to being hired in Baltimore. A 26th-round pick by the Pirates back in 2005, he played professional from 2005-10 as an infielder Pittsburgh’s system and later on the independent circuit.

Mansolino guided the O’s to a 60-59 record, but that wasn’t enough to erase a disastrous start to the season. Baltimore finished last in the AL East with a 75-87 record. He was in the running for the Orioles’ full-time managerial gig moving forward, but that job went to Guardians associate manager and bench coach Craig Albernaz.

Martinez, also 43, was San Francisco’s pitching coach in 2025 and an assistant pitching coach with the Giants from 2021-24. He broke into the coaching ranks in the low levels of the Twins’ system back in 2015. He served as a pitching coach with Minnesota’s Rookie-level and High-A affiliates before being named the organization’s overall minor league pitching coordinator in 2018 — a role he held until being hired by the Giants in the 2020-21 offseason.

Coaching Notes: Leiper, Weeks, Rangers, Twins

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With so many new managers taking over this season, it’s no surprise we’ve seen plenty of coaching staff turnover. Changes have been trickling in this week. Here are some quick highlights…

  • The Mets are expected to hire Tim Leiper as their third base coach, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Leiper has spent nearly three decades as a coach at various levels. He most recently served as the Padres’ third base coach, a role he has held since 2024. Leiper would be taking over for Mike Sarbaugh, who was not brought back after the season.
  • Rickie Weeks is changing roles with the Brewers, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. After serving as associate manager for the past two seasons, Weeks will move to the front office as a special assistant to the general manager. Weeks was drafted by the Brewers with the second overall pick in 2003. He spent 11 of his 14 big-league seasons with the team. Weeks returned to Milwaukee in 2022 as an assistant to player development. The Brewers will not be hiring a new associate manager, notes Hogg.
  • The Rangers are in the process of filling out new manager Skip Schumaker’s staff. The club is expected to add Alex Cintron as an assistant hitting coach, reports Michael Schwab. Cintron has been a hitting coach with the Astros since 2019. Texas has also expressed interest in Twins’ bullpen coach Colby Suggs, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Suggs seems to be on the market, with Minnesota expected to hire LaTroy Hawkins for the bullpen coach position.
  • More from Minnesota, as new manager Derek Shelton continues to put his staff together. Hayes reported that Hank Conger will not be returning next season. Conger joined the Twins in 2022 as first base coach. After three seasons in the role, he served as assistant bench coach in 2025. Minnesota is also slated to lose bench coach Jayce Tingler, who is expected to join San Francisco’s staff in some capacity.

Twins To Hire LaTroy Hawkins As Bullpen Coach

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The Twins are expected to bring on former reliever LaTroy Hawkins as bullpen coach, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune, among others. Hawkins has been a special assistant in the organization since 2016. He’s also worked on the Twins’ broadcast team.

Hawkins is no stranger to Minnesota’s bullpen. He pitched for 11 teams over his 21-year career, but his longest tenure was with the Twins. Minnesota drafted Hawkins in 1991. He debuted for the team as a 22-year-old in 1995. Hawkins spent five seasons as a starter with the Twins before moving to the bullpen, where he would be a fixture through 2003.

Hawkins wrapped up his lengthy playing career with the Blue Jays in 2015. He finished with 127 saves across 1,042 appearances. Hawkins returned to Minnesota after that season, this time in a front office role. He doesn’t have any MLB coaching experience, but did coach for the Brazilian National Team in 2017 and 2023. Hawkins also managed the American League team at the 2021 Futures Game.

Minnesota has yet to announce the hiring. Hawkins would be taking over for Colby Suggs, who has served as bullpen coach since 2022. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Rangers have expressed interest in adding Suggs to their coaching staff. Suggs has worked in the Twins’ organization since 2019.

Twins Outright Five Players

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The Twins announced Thursday that they’ve outrighted five players off the 40-man roster. Infielder Jose Miranda, lefties Genesis Cabrera and Anthony Misiewicz, and righties Michael Tonkin and Thomas Hatch all went unclaimed on waivers and have elected free agency. Minnesota has seven vacancies on its 40-man roster.

Miranda, 27, is the most notable of the bunch. He’s a former second-round pick and top-100 prospect who posted a strong debut effort with the 2022 Twins, hitting .268/.325/.426 (116 wRC+) with 15 homers and 25 doubles in 483 turns at the plate. That included an awful three-week start to his MLB career that saw him optioned back to Triple-A St. Paul. Upon returning to the majors, he mashed at a .286/.346/.461 clip in just over 400 plate appearances.

A shoulder injury ruined Miranda’s 2023 season, however. He opened the season at third base but hit just .211/.263/.303 before undergoing surgery. Miranda bounced back in 2024, slashing .284/.322/.441 (114 wRC+) in 121 big league games. Repeated back injuries shortened his season, however, and his 2025 campaign was a disaster. Miranda went 6-for-36 in the majors and spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, where he hit just .195/.272/.296 in 371 plate appearances.

There’s little doubting that Miranda is a talented hitter at his core. The question is whether he can rebound from the shoulder and back injuries that have dragged down his once-promising career. Given that he’s always been a bat-first player with a questionable glove at both infield corners, it’s imperative that he gets back on track in the batter’s box. He’ll be a depth option and moderate upside play for teams seeking help at the corners. Miranda has pronounced reverse splits in his career, so he’s not a great option for a team looking for a righty bat to help its attack against left-handed opponents.

The rest of today’s outrights/free agent elections were widely expected. Each of Cabrera, Misiewicz, Tonkin and Hatch were depth arms who were thrust into larger roles following the deadline fire sale. They’ll all be candidates for minor league deals this winter.

Cabrera nearly tied a major league record this year, pitching for four teams in one season. He’s a hard-throwing, command-challenged lefty reliever who’s bounced all over the league since 2019 and has a career 4.24 ERA with an 11% walk rate.

Misiewicz has pitched for six big league clubs and has a 4.86 ERA in 120 1/3 big league innings — only 4 2/3 of which came with the Twins this year. He had some success with the Mariners as a rookie in 2020 but has struggled to an ERA north of 5.00 since.

Tonkin was originally a Twins draftee. This season marked his third stint with the team. He’s pitched in parts of eight MLB seasons and also spent a year in Japan. In 329 2/3 innings, the soon-to-be 36-year-old righty has a 4.23 ERA.

Hatch, like Tonkin, is a righty with below-average velocity who’s bounced around MLB for several seasons and also spent a year in Japan. He pitched 34 innings with an ERA near 6.00 for the Twins in 2025 and now has a 5.24 earned run average in 103 frames at the MLB level. He just turned 31 in late September.

Angels Claim Cody Laweryson

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The Angels announced that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Cody Laweryson off waivers from the Twins. That’ll bring the Halos’ 40-man roster count to 34 players while dropping the Twins to 38.

Laweryson, 28 next May, was a 14th-round pick by Minnesota back in 2019 and made his MLB debut this past season, tossing 7 2/3 innings and allowing one run late in the season. The 6’4″ righty punched out seven of 26 opponents and didn’t issue a walk. He averaged 93.2 mph on his four-seamer, mixing in a cutter and changeup to round out a three-pitch repertoire.

That marked the end of a quality all-around season for the Maine native. He split the remainder of the season between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a combined 2.86 ERA with a 24.6% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 46.3% ground-ball rate in 44 innings of minor league relief.

Laweryson was only added to the 40-man roster after Minnesota gutted its bullpen at this year’s trade deadline, shipping out five relievers for a series of prospects and controllable young big leaguers. Minnesota will likely trim several more names from the 40-man roster in the days ahead, as the bullpen for the final couple months was composed almost entirely of journeyman stopgaps to get through the end of the season.

Falvey: Pablo Lopez, David Festa Expected To Be Ready For 2026

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Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey recently shared some positive health updates for right-handers Pablo Lopez and David Festa. Falvey told Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic that Lopez is fully healthy and is expected to have a normal offseason. He added that Festa should start throwing soon and is expected to be good to go by spring training.

Lopez hit the 15-day injured list in late September with a right forearm strain. Even at the time, the injury was believed to be mild enough that Lopez could’ve avoided the IL if Minnesota were still in the mix for a playoff spot. Falvey’s statement further supports that notion. It seems the issue will have minimal impact on Lopez going forward, though it was only one of several injuries Lopez dealt with this past season.

The right-hander first hit the IL just three starts into the season with a hamstring strain. He came back near the end of April, only to go down again in early June with a shoulder strain. The shoulder injury resulted in a trip to the 60-day IL and cost Lopez all of July and August. The various maladies capped Lopez at 14 starts, his fewest in a 162-game season since his rookie year back in 2018.

Lopez pitched well when available with a 2.74 ERA across 75 2/3 innings. Lopez allowed two earned runs or fewer in a dozen of his outings. The underlying metrics on his arsenal declined, however, potentially as a result of the start-and-stop nature of his season. Lopez recorded a 23.4% strikeout rate, his worst mark since 2019. He finished with a career-low 93 Stuff+. The Twins are surely hoping that a full offseason to regain his form will help him bounce back in the strikeout department next season.

At the very least, that’s what they’ll be pitching to potential trade partners this winter. Lopez’s clean bill of health figures to make him a more viable trade candidate this offseason than he was during Minnesota’s fire sale at the Trade Deadline. He’s entering the third year of the four-year, $73.5MM extension he signed with Minnesota in 2024. The two years and $43MM left on that deal would be a bargain if Lopez can maintain his status as a #2 starter, and that should make him very attractive to any team who thinks his injuries (and a somewhat middling 2024 campaign) are behind him.

As for Festa, the right-hander is entering his age-26 season next year. He’s pitched to a 5.12 ERA with a 4.27 FIP to this point in his career at the big league level, though that comes in a sample size of just 117 2/3 innings across the 2024 and ’25 seasons. With the Twins having kicked off what looks to be a near complete rebuild over the summer, Festa figures to enter Spring Training with the opportunity to compete for a spot in the starting rotation alongside other young arms like Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, and Mick Abel. How many spots will be available to those young arms depends on how aggressive the Twins are in marketing some of their more veteran starters, like Lopez and fellow righty Joe Ryan, throughout the coming winter.

MLBTR Podcast: Offseason Preview Megapod: Top Trade Candidates

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Imagn Images

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