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Braves Sign Hernan Perez To Minor League Deal

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Last week, the Braves signed utilityman Hernán Pérez to a minor league contract. He has been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’s already made three appearances. Pérez had opened the 2022 season with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League, but he was granted his release to pursue the opportunity with Atlanta after three games.

Pérez, 31, has seen action in the majors in each of the past ten seasons. He debuted with the Tigers but logged the majority of his playing time as a fairly regular utility player with the Brewers between 2015-19. Pérez’s best season came in 2016, when he swiped 34 bases and hit 13 home runs over 430 plate appearances. His production has steadily ticked down in the years since then, however, and he’s seen only sporadic MLB time with the Cubs and Nationals over the last two years. He spent most of last season with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization, hitting .273/.327/.418 in 58 games.

Even during his best days, Pérez made plenty of outs because of a very low walk rate, reflected in a .250/.280/.382 MLB slash line. For the bulk of his career, though, he’s shown solid bat-to-ball skills and plus baserunning ability. He’s also seen action at every position other than catcher, with the majority of his experience coming at third and second base. Public metrics haven’t liked Pérez’s work at shortstop or in center field, but he’s rated well in his time at second and at all four corner spots.

Atlanta’s starting infield of Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley is well-established. Orlando Arcia, a teammate of Pérez’s for a few years in Milwaukee, is the top utility option. Pérez joins Phil Gosselin and Pat Valaika as experienced, non-roster utility options with the Stripers.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/30/22

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Today’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • Alex Dickerson cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate.  Dickerson was designated for assignment on Thursday, and as a veteran with more than five years of Major League service time, he had the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors.  Instead, Dickerson has opted to remain in Atlanta’s organization and try to get on track in Gwinnett after a dismal start to the season — the outfielder has only four hits and a .407 OPS over his first 36 plate appearances.  In making the big league roster, Dickerson locked in a $1MM guaranteed salary on the minor league contract he signed with Atlanta in March.

Braves Activate Ronald Acuna Jr., Designate Alex Dickerson

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Ronald Acuna Jr. is back. The Braves announced this morning that they’ve reinstated their star outfielder from the 10-day injured list — the culmination of a nine-and-a-half-month rehabilitation process following an ACL tear sustained last July. It’s a bit of a surprise, as the Braves had been targeting a May 6 return according to manager Brian Snitker, though Snitker acknowledged at the time of that statement that the date was not set in stone. In a corresponding roster move, Atlanta has designated outfielder Alex Dickerson for assignment.

The 24-year-old Acuna is one of the game’s most dynamic talents and effectively has been since the moment he reached the Majors as a 21-year-old in 2018. Shaking off a rough couple of weeks to begin that original MLB promotion, Acuna went on an absolute tear and finished out the ’18 campaign as the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year winner, claiming 27 of 30 first-place votes (with two going to Juan Soto and one going to Walker Buehler).

Acuna slugged 26 homers and swiped 16 bases as a rookie, hitting at a .293/.366/.552 clip along the way. He’s kept that pace in the three seasons since that time, and will come off the injured list looking to build on a .281/.376/.549 career batting line and add to his already impressive total of 105 big league home runs (to say nothing of 78 doubles, seven triples and 78 steals).

While some fans may worry that Acuna is being rushed back to the big leagues, he certainly hasn’t shown any rust in his limited work with Triple-A Gwinnett so far. It’s only six games and 25 plate appearances, but Acuna is 7-for-19 with a double, six walks and three stolen bases (in three tries), which certainly paints the picture of someone whose major knee injury is firmly behind him. And, given that the Braves’ outfield is producing — or rather, failing to produce — at an alarming level, Atlanta brass has opted to proactively make a move to inject some life into the offense.

Marcell Ozuna has gotten out to a nice start in left field, hitting .257/.291/.486 with four homers and five doubles on the year. It’s a bit light in the OBP department, but the power production has generally offset Ozuna’s lack of walks. The rest of the Atlanta outfield, however, has been nothing short of a disaster. Adam Duvall is hitting .197/.250/.258 in 72 plate appearances. Eddie Rosario batted .068/.163/.091 in 49 plate appearances before undergoing an eye procedure that’ll sideline him for up to 12 weeks. Guillermo Heredia is hitting .158/.273/.368 in 22 plate appearances. The Braves have gotten some production in small samples from infielder-turned-utilityman Orlando Arcia and former prospect Travis Demeritte, but it’s clear that the current group wasn’t sufficient for a team with designs on defending a World Series championship.

Dickerson, at whose expense Acuna is returning, was also a notable culprit when it comes to the Braves’ general lack of offense. Signed late in spring to a one-year deal, he’s been used primarily as a designated hitter against right-handed pitching but has gone just 4-for-33 with one extra-base hit (a homer) while punching out in a quarter of his 36 plate appearances.

The 31-year-old Dickerson has generally been a productive hitter in his big league career when healthy, though that health caveat has loomed large. Dickerson was out for the entirety of the 2017-18 seasons thanks to Tommy John surgery and back surgery, and he’s spent considerable time on the injured list even during his active seasons. Dating back to the 2019 campaign, he’s been sent to the injured list with wrist, shoulder, oblique, hamstring and back injuries.

Dickerson was a revelation for the 2019-20 Giants after going from San Diego to San Francisco in exchange for minor league reliever Franklin Van Gurp. In 341 plate appearances with the Giants over those two seasons, he raked at a .294/.361/.552 clip, mashing 16 home runs, 23 doubles and four triples while walking at a solid 8.5% clip and striking out in 19.1% of his plate appearances (a good bit south of the league average). Dickerson’s 2021 season, however, included a trio of IL stints due to a shoulder strain, a back strain and a hamstring strain. He posted a diminished .233/.304/.420 slash last season and has yet to right the ship so far in 2022.

The Braves will have a week to trade Dickerson, place him on outright waivers or release him. Given his track record and an affordable $1MM salary on his 2022 contract, it’s possible another club will take a look. It’s equally, if not more plausible, however, that teams will simply wait for Dickerson to clear waivers and hope to sign him as a free agent. Because he has more than five years of MLB service time, Dickerson can reject an assignment to the minors upon clearing waivers and still retain his salary.

Injury Notes: Acuna, Flaherty, Lewis

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The Braves got a huge boost today, with superstar outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. returning to the team and the lineup after an absence of over nine months due to an ACL tear last year. However, the club will still be trying to gradually ramp things up for him, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic, who relays word from manager Brian Snitker. Acuna will reportedly have something less than a full workload, getting occasional days in the designated hitter slot or sitting out day games after night games or missing games after playing and traveling the same day. This plan is intended to go until July 22, which is all fairly sensible given that Acuna is incredibly valuable to the team and is coming off a long layoff from a very serious injury. It’s worth pointing out, though, that Snitker also said the situation is fluid and will be re-evaluated daily. Acuna’s already beaten a timeline in his rehab once, as the club was targeting a May 6 return, but he’s back in the lineup tonight and has already stolen two bases, tying himself for the team lead on the year. No one should be surprised if he alters the plan and finds a way to take the reins off sooner rather than later. In fact, he might not even be aware of the plan, as he had this to say about the idea of him sitting on Friday: “I don’t know who said the plan was for me not to play. The way I’m looking at it is, I’m playing tomorrow. So I guess we’ll see what happens.” O’Brien later clarified that the club did tell Acuna about the plan, but he was too excited about his return to hear it. (Twitter links)

Some other health updates from around the league:

  • Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty is making progress towards a return, as manager Oliver Marmol tells Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat that Flaherty will throw off a mound in the second week of May. He’s been dealing with an ailing shoulder since Spring Training began, the same shoulder that put him on the shelf for about a month last year. The club has been able to weather his absence so far, starting the season 11-7. The rotation has four pillars in Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson and Steven Matz, but one wild card in Jordan Hicks. After working exclusively as a reliever since his MLB debut in 2018, Hicks has made two starts recently, throwing 46 pitches over 3 innings in the first outing, followed by 42 pitches over 2 innings in the second. Time will tell if this transition will work out, but there’s no question a healthy Flaherty will improve things, either by sending Hicks back to the bullpen or covering for an injury to someone else down the line. In 2019, he threw 196 1/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate, coming in fourth in NL Cy Young voting that year.
  • It’s been almost a year since Kyle Lewis has played a major league game, with his last appearance coming May 31 of last year. A torn meniscus ended his season, with Lewis hitting many obstacles on the road to recovery since then. In a sign of progress, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto tells Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times that Lewis is now participating in games at extended spring training, both playing in the outfield and slotting into the designated hitter role. None of the Mariners’ three regular outfielders are off to a blazing start to the season, as Julio Rodriguez, Jarred Kelenic and Jesse Winker each have a wRC+ between 54 and 77. (League average is 100.) Mitch Haniger was also off to a sluggish start before being sidelined by a positive Covid test. If Lewis can get back to his pre-injury form, he’d provide a boost to the lineup, as his career batting line is .258/.343/.450, 121 wRC+.

Eddie Rosario To Undergo Procedure On Right Eye, Could Miss 8-12 Weeks

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APRIL 26: Atlanta placed Rosario on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to yesterday, with what the team called “blurred vision and swelling in the right retina.” To take his place on the active roster, the Braves recalled right-hander William Woods to make his major league debut.

Selected onto the 40-man roster last offseason, the 23-year-old Woods has allowed six runs in 7 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A in the early going. However, he’s punched out 14 of the 32 batters he’s faced while walking just a pair of opponents, and the Braves reasonably feel that kind of swing-and-miss ability will help him find better results from a run prevention perspective. (Eric Cole of Battery Power first reported Woods’ forthcoming promotion).

APRIL 25: The Braves announced today that outfielder Eddie Rosario will soon undergo a laser procedure on his right eye, due to some swelling and blurred vision. While the club didn’t provide a timeline, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that this could sideline Rosario for 8-12 weeks.

Acquired from the Indians in a deadline deal last year, Rosario got red hot as a member of the Braves and went onto cement himself in the team’s lore. After the trade, Rosario hit .271/.330/.573 for an excellent 133 wRC+. That tremendous hot streak helped propel the club into the postseason. Rosario was able to shine in the playoffs as well, as he went 14-for-25 in the NLCS, including three home runs, a double, a triple and nine runs driven in, earning series MVP honors. Rosario couldn’t carry that hot streak into the World Series, but the club triumphed nonetheless.

Rosario reached free agency but eventually re-signed with the Braves on a two-year, $18MM deal with a club option for 2024. He’s gotten off to a miserable start to the year, hitting just .068/.163/.091, though those struggles are surely attributable to the fact that Rosario has been struggling with his vision. Now that the issue has been diagnosed and will soon be treated, Rosario can hopefully get back on track. However, it will take some time, with Rosario seemingly unable to return until a few months from now.

For the Braves, it’s unfortunate that they will be losing a beloved member of the team for an extended stretch. Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall should be making up two-thirds of the outfield on most nights. With Rosario stepping aside, the options to join them include Alex Dickerson, Guillermo Heredia and Travis Demeritte. Whatever solution the team comes up with will just be temporary, as Ronald Acuna Jr. should be in the mix soon. The superstar has been out of action for almost a year at this point after tearing his ACL in July of 2021. However, he is currently on a rehab assignment and isn’t far from rejoining the big league club.

Ronald Acuna Jr. Tentatively Set To Return On May 6

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The Braves have set May 6 as a potential target date for Ronald Acuna Jr.’s return to the active roster, though manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including The Athletic’s David O’Brien) that there is plenty of flexibility built into that plan.  Acuna is thus far three games into his minor league rehab assignment.

“Next week will be big because I think he’s scheduled to go lengthy defensive games, like 3 out of 4 days, something like that,” Snitker said.  “At the end of next week they’ll have a really good read on probably where his body is.”

Acuna tore his right ACL last July 10, so it will be just shy of a 10-month absence if he does make his return for the May 6 game against the Brewers.  Despite the severity of the injury and the obvious caution the Braves have taken with their superstar, Acuna’s rehab has gone about as smoothly as possible.  Snitker even intimated that if Acuna’s next week of action goes particularly well, the outfielder might even be back on Atlanta’s roster prior to May 6.

The defending World Series champs have a 7-8 record heading into today’s game with the Marlins, in part due to an overall lack of production from the outfield.  While Marcell Ozuna has hit well, Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario, Guillermo Heredia, and Alex Dickerson (who has played mostly DH), have all struggled, so Acuna’s return to the everyday right field spot should immediately shore things up.

While it may be unfair to expect Acuna to immediately pick up where he left off in 2021, even a slightly lessened version of Acuna is still one of the game’s best players.  The outfielder has done nothing but mash since debuting in 2018, and he was batting .283/.394/.596 with 24 homers in his first 360 plate appearances of the 2021 season before suffering his ACL tear.

Braves, Cubs Swap Sean Newcomb, Jesse Chavez

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The Cubs have acquired reliever Sean Newcomb from the Braves for right-hander Jesse Chavez and cash, according to announcements from both teams. Both clubs’ 40-man rosters are now full.

It’s a new landing spot for Newcomb, who has spent the past six seasons in Atlanta. A first-round pick of the Angels in 2014, the left-hander quickly developed into one of the sport’s top pitching prospects. After the 2015 season, the Angels flipped him alongside Chris Ellis to Atlanta for five years of Andrelton Simmons.

Newcomb was a starting pitching prospect at the time, with evaluators holding out hope that his high-octane arsenal could make him a top-of-the-rotation caliber hurler. He remained in that role for his first couple major league seasons, starting 49 of his 50 appearances between 2017-18. Newcomb showed some promise, posting a 4.06 ERA with a solid 23.3% strikeout rate. As he had throughout his time in the minor leagues, though, he struggled to throw strikes. After walking 12% of batters faced through his first couple seasons, the Braves transitioned him to the ’pen in 2019.

During his first season of relief, Newcomb pitched to a 3.16 ERA in 68 1/3 frames over 55 outings. Curiously, his strikeout and swinging strike numbers took a step back relative to where they’d been while he was starting, but he induced grounders on nearly half of batted balls against him and posted a personal-low 9.9% walk rate.

It looked as if Newcomb might thrive in shorter stints, but the Braves made an ill-fated effort to return him to the rotation in 2020. He was bombed in four starts and spent most of the season at the alternate training site. He returned to the big league bullpen last season but dealt with his worst control woes yet. In 32 outings, Newcomb walked a ghastly 18% of opponents while seeing his ground-ball rate tumble back to 39%. His 28.7% strikeout percentage was a career-high, but the free passes allowed hitters to rack up a .383 on-base percentage.

Newcomb has gotten off to another rough start this season. He’s worked five innings of four-run ball, allowing seven hits with four walks and strikeouts apiece. Because he’s out of minor league option years, the Braves had to either continue running him out against MLB hitters or designate him for assignment. They chose the latter course of action yesterday, likely knowing someone else would take a chance on him.

That team will be the Cubs, who add a live-armed southpaw to their bullpen. Newcomb has averaged north of 95 MPH on his heater in each of the past two seasons. He generated plus swinging strike rates on both his cutter-slider and curveball last year. For a team that entered the night with Daniel Norris as its only lefty reliever, it’s understandable why Chicago will take a shot to see if they can iron out Newcomb’s control woes.

He’s making a modest $900K this season (a little more than $800K of which remains owed) and can be controlled via arbitration through 2025. There’s a chance Newcomb sticks around on the North Side for the next few seasons, but the Cubs — like the Braves before them — will have to keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment themselves.

The Braves, meanwhile, will replace Newcomb in the bullpen with one of his old teammates. Chavez, a 15-year MLB veteran, spent the 2021 season with Atlanta after being selected onto the big league roster in June. He pitched to a sterling 2.14 ERA in 33 2/3 innings, striking out a career-high 27.1% of batters faced against a fine 8.3% walk rate. Chavez rather remarkably didn’t allow a single home run in his 30 appearances.

That impressive strikeout total came in spite of a 91 MPH fastball and a subpar 7.1% swinging strike rate, though. Between Chavez’s lack of velocity, swing-and-miss stuff and understandable skepticism about his ability to repeat his 2021 home run suppression, teams didn’t ardently pursue him in free agency. He signed a non-roster deal with Chicago, although he wound up breaking camp nonetheless.

Chavez made three appearances as a Cub, tossing 5 2/3 frames of three-run ball. He has punched out three batters with a pair of walks and a homer allowed. He’ll return to Atlanta and again serve as a multi-inning bullpen option for skipper Brian Snitker.

Braves Outright Chadwick Tromp

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The Braves announced this afternoon that catcher Chadwick Tromp has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta had designated him for assignment last week.

Atlanta claimed Tromp off waivers from the Giants last September. He spent the offseason on the 40-man roster but lost his spot when the Braves brought up Bryce Elder for his major league debut. Tromp has appeared in nine games with Gwinnett over the past two years but hasn’t suited up at the MLB level with the Braves. The righty-hitting backstop did appear in 33 games with the Giants between 2020-21, picking up 82 plate appearances. He has managed just a .215/.220/.418 line in that limited time, but the Aruba native is a .253/.314/.412 hitter in parts of five Triple-A seasons.

The 27-year-old Tromp doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the upper levels of the system. He no longer occupies a spot on the 40-man roster but will try to play his way back into that mix. Travis d’Arnaud, Manny Piña and William Contreras are the remaining backstops on the Atlanta 40-man.

Diamondbacks Claim Jacob Webb, Designate Stuart Fairchild

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The D-Backs announced this afternoon they’ve claimed reliever Jacob Webb off waivers from the Braves. To create space on the 40-man roster, they designated outfielder Stuart Fairchild for assignment.

Atlanta had somewhat surprisingly designated Webb for assignment last week. The 28-year-old has generally been an effective bullpen piece over the past few seasons, tossing 76 2/3 innings of 2.47 ERA ball since debuting in 2019. That included a sterling 1.39 mark in 32 1/3 frames as a rookie, although Webb’s peripherals that season were more ordinary. Unfortunately, Webb spent notable chunks of each of his first couple seasons on the injured list. In 2019, went down in August with a season-ending elbow impingement. The following year, he missed the first month and a half of the shortened schedule because of a shoulder strain.

Webb returned to health last season and worked 34 1/3 frames with a 4.19 ERA. His 21.6% strikeout rate is a few points below the MLB average, but that belies some excellent swing-and-miss numbers on a per-pitch basis. Webb racked up swinging strikes on 15.6% of his offerings last year, one of the top marks around the league.

Arizona will take a low-risk flier to see if he can translate that whiff rate into a few more punchouts and settle into the middle innings. The D-Backs had one of the league’s worst bullpens last season, giving Webb plenty of opportunity to stake a claim to a spot. He has a minor league option year remaining as well, so the Snakes can shuttle him between Arizona and Triple-A Reno for the remainder of the year if he sticks on the 40-man roster.

Fairchild loses his spot on the 40-man roster and will be traded or placed on waivers within the next week. A second-round pick of the Reds in 2017, he was dealt to the D-Backs alongside the since-traded Josh VanMeter at the 2020 deadline for reliever Archie Bradley. Fairchild posted a strong .295/.385/.564 line in 44 games with Reno last year to earn his first MLB call, but he only appeared in 12 contests with Arizona.

Optioned back to Triple-A to open this season, Fairchild has gotten off to a miserable start. He’s hitting .162/.279/.378 in 43 trips to the dish, striking out 15 times. In the wake of that rough start, the D-Backs decided to bump Fairchild off the roster. He still has a pair of options and can cover all three outfield positions, so it’s not out of the question a team that liked the 26-year-old as a prospect takes a shot on him.

Braves Designate Sean Newcomb For Assignment, Option Huascar Ynoa

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The Braves have designated left-hander Sean Newcomb for assignment, per a club announcement. They’ve also optioned righty Huascar Ynoa to Triple-A Gwinnett and recalled right-hander Touki Toussaint and lefty Dylan Lee in place of Newcomb and Ynoa. Additionally, the Braves announced that Ronald Acuna Jr. is headed out on a minor league rehab assignment.

Newcomb’s DFA comes on the heels of a three-year downturn that have seen the starter-turned-setup-man’s effectiveness dwindle considerably. The No. 15 overall pick by the Angels back in 2014, Newcomb headlined the Braves’ return in the trade that sent Andrelton Simmons to Anaheim. After a solid rookie showing in 2017, he looked to have broken out in 2018 when he made 30 starts and pitched to a 3.90 ERA over the life of 164 innings. Newcomb’s 23% strikeout rate was solid, but his 11.6% walk rate marked a continuation of ongoing command troubles that had plagued him dating back to his minor league days.

Despite a decent start to the 2019 season, Newcomb was optioned to Gwinnett in mid-April and returned as a reliever in early May. The new role seemed to suit him just fine, as he pitched to a 2.89 ERA with improved strikeout and walk rates (25.5% and 8.9%, respectively) in 56 innings the rest of the way. Averaging just shy of 95 mph on his heater and putting the ball on the ground on more than half of the batted balls against him, Newcomb looked the part of a quality late-inning option.

That hasn’t proven to be the case, however. Dating back to 2020, Newcomb has a 6.71 ERA in 51 big league innings and has spent some time shuttling between Gwinnett and the big leagues. He’s walked more than 15% of his opponents since Opening Day 2020, plunked another five batters and thrown seven wild pitches. Newcomb is out of minor league options, and with him yielding four runs on seven hits and four walks through just five innings (26 batters faced) to begin the season, the Braves made the choice to cut bait.

Newcomb is earning $900K this season after avoiding arbitration this past offseason. He’s still owed about $842K of that sum for the remainder of the season, and any team that claims him or acquires him via trade would be on the hook for the remainder of that sum. If a new team is able to help Newcomb right the ship, however, he’d be controllable through the 2024 season via arbitration. Given that his salary is only $200K north of the new league minimum, it’s certainly possible that another club will look to help get the once-successful southpaw back on track. The Braves will have a week to trade Newcomb, attempt to pass him through waivers or release him. If he’s released, the new signing team would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.

As for Ynoa, he’ll remain on the 40-man roster and hope to work toward another big league shot after an awful start to the season. The former Twins prospect, acquired in the deal that briefly sent Jaime Garcia to Minnesota, had a short breakout last year when he pitched to a 3.09 ERA over an eight-start stretch that spanned 43 2/3 frames. Ynoa, however, suffered a broken hand when he punched the bench following a poor start and spent two months on the injured list. When he returned, he posted a 5.05 ERA in 46 1/3 frames, and those struggles have not only continued but escalated in 2022. So far this year, he’s made two starts, both shorter than four innings, and yielded five earned runs in each.

The news on Acuna is a welcome sight for Braves fans, as it signifies that — barring any setbacks in his rehab from last year’s ACL tear — he’ll be back with the big league club within a month’s time. Minor league rehab windows are capped at 30 days, so Acuna will be back by mid-May, health-permitting.

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