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Cubs Activate Kris Bryant, Addison Russell

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The NL Central-leading Cubs are getting healthier as they charge toward a third straight division title. The club announced that it has activated superstar third baseman Kris Bryant and shortstop Addison Russell from the 10-day disabled list. Of the two, only Bryant’s in the Cubs’ starting lineup for Saturday’s game in Philadelphia.

The Cubs’ roster looks stronger than it did when Bryant landed on the shelf July 26 with left shoulder inflammation, as the team has since swung deals for several players, including left-hander Cole Hamels and second baseman Daniel Murphy. Those additions have helped Chicago stay atop its division, which it leads by 3 1/2 games, in Bryant’s absence.

At the time of his DL placement, the 26-year-old Bryant was slashing .276/.380/.474 in 358 plate appearances. While those numbers are 29 percent better than league average, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric, they’re a good deal worse than Bryant’s career line of .286/.387/.519 (141 wRC+). Perhaps because of his shoulder troubles, Bryant’s power output has fallen this season, as he has managed 11 home runs and a career-worst .197 ISO. Nevertheless, the 2016 NL MVP remains an eminently valuable player – one whom the Cubs are no doubt overjoyed to welcome back. Chicago primarily deployed David Bote at third with Bryant out, and while the former has had his moments during a quality rookie campaign, his production has cratered of late. Bote racked up 82 PAs in August and hit a meager .187/.244/.387 with 25 strikeouts against four walks.

As for Russell, he appears to be in line for diminished playing time, thanks in part to the acquisition of Murphy. Russell went on the DL with a sprained left index finger Aug. 22, which made room for the Cubs to add Murphy to their roster. Murphy has been hot since then, and carries a better offensive track record than Russell, making it likely he’ll continue as Chicago’s top option at the keystone. And Murphy’s presence has left shortstop for Javier Baez, who had been the Cubs’ starting second baseman and has been one of the majors’ most valuable players in 2018.

Cubs Designate Luke Farrell, Rob Zastryzny

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The Cubs have a pair of roster casualties today amidst their first round of September call-ups: right-hander Luke Farrell and left-hander Rob Zastryzny have been designated for assignment in order to clear room on the roster for outfielder Terrance Gore and infielder Taylor Davis, whose contracts have been selected from Triple-A Iowa.

Farrell has done more harm than good for the 2018 Cubs team; his 5.17 ERA and 5.19 FIP are nearly identical, indicating he hasn’t shown the skills required of an effective major-league pitcher. While his ability to miss bats (11.20 K/9) might disagree with that assumption to some extent, his command issues (4.60 BB/9) strengthens the case that he isn’t a useful major-league piece at this time. His biggest woes come from the fact that he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher (30.6% ground-ball rate) who allows an excess of homers (17.5% homer-to-fly-ball ratio).

The 26-year-old Zastryzny has seen less of an extended look at the MLB level, but showed even less promise than Farrell in that small sample. He’s allowed three earned runs while walking four batters in a 5 2/3 inning sample size, and while it’s perhaps unfair to draw many conclusions from that limited opportunity, his 2018 Triple-A performance doesn’t necessarily help his cause. While the 3.86 ERA he posted in 56 innings there might seem serviceable on the surface, the 4.68 FIP and 4.52 xFIP lurking underneath paint an entirely different picture. He also walked a batter every other inning on average while with Iowa.

Cubs Acquire Bobby Wilson From Twins For Chris Gimenez

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The Cubs have acquired backstop Bobby Wilson from the Twins in a deal that will send fellow veteran receiver Chris Gimenez to Minnesota, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press was among those to report on Twitter. Cash or a player to be named later will also go to the Twins in the arrangement.

To create space on their 40-man roster, the Cubs announced, righty Cory Mazzoni was designated for assignment.

This deal involves a pair of catchers whose careers to date share quite a few similarities. Clearly, the Chicago organization preferred Wilson to Gimenez — at least, that is, at this point in the season.

Truthfully, there isn’t a ton that separates the two on the stat sheet. Both are 35 years of age and known for their positive clubhouse presence. Wilson and Gimenez have respectively, appeared in nine and ten MLB seasons while taking a grand total of 1,000 and 1,033 plate appearances. At the time of the trade, they had each spent time in the majors with six different clubs — several of them in common (Rangers, Rays, Twins, and now Cubs).

Though Gimenez has the advantage in the hitting department over the course of his career, he has endured a dreadful season at the plate. He didn’t produce at all in a dozen MLB games with the Cubs earlier in the year and is batting a meager .204/.282/.303 in 227 Triple-A plate appearances.

Wilson, certainly, hasn’t impressed the Chicago brass with his offensive output in 2018. In 151 plate appearances for the Twins, he’s slashing just .178/.242/.281 with a pair of home runs. Instead, it’s likely his sturdy defensive reputation — in particular, as a pitch receiver — that sparked today’s move.

NL Central Notes: Murphy, Garrett, Finnegan, Brewers

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Fans and pundits alike were surprised when Daniel Murphy fell to the Cubs on revocable waivers, and that was the reaction of the Cubs’ front office as well, GM Jed Hoyer explains to Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Hoyer says the Cubs had been claiming anywhere from one to as many as “eight or nine” players per day without much to show for it and were indeed “surprised” to learn they’d been awarded the claim on Murphy. (Interestingly, Rogers notes that the Cubs also tried to claim Bryce Harper, though the Dodgers reportedly blocked other contenders from succeeding in that regard.) Hoyer delves into negotiations with the Nationals a bit and reveals that the Murphy trade came together all of two minutes before his waiver period was set to expire.

Rogers’ column gives interesting insight into the mechanics behind the waiver process from the team perspective, explaining how clubs go about placing claims and learning when they have or have not succeeded in claiming a player. Rogers also chats with Murphy himself about the waiver process and the transition from the Nationals to the Cubs. Those looking to learn more about August trade maneuverings and the nuts and bolts behind these claims will want to check out the column in full to gain some additional perspective. And, of course, we’d be remiss to not thank Murphy for his readership, as the veteran infielder tells Rogers he “frequents” MLBTR and first learned of his placement on waivers right here.

Here’s more from the division…

  • The Reds announced this afternoon that lefty setup man Amir Garrett has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a bone bruise in his foot. Righty Jackson Stephens was activated from the 10-day DL and added to the roster in his place. As Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer examines, the situation illustrates just how far Brandon Finnegan’s standing within the organization has fallen. Interim skipper Jim Riggleman suggested to reporters that the team wouldn’t bring up a lefty in the short term and, asked specifically about Finnegan, wouldn’t commit firmly to a September call-up for the 25-year-old. Finnegan was very arguably the headliner of the 2015 trade that sent Johnny Cueto to Kansas City, but he’s struggled immensely in 2018 and, since being moved to the bullpen in Triple-A, has an ERA north of 7.00 with 19 walks against 20 strikeouts.
  • Brewers fans are growing increasingly restless as they clamor for the team to make some kind of upgrade between now and month’s end, and general manager David Stearns addressed his lack of activity to this point in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier today (Twitter link, with full audio). Stearns made clear that he has confidence in the Brewers’ current pitching staff and suggested that expanded September rosters will allow Milwaukee to take pressure off the rotation by shortening games, but he also plainly stated that he’s staying active in trade discussions as he seeks upgrades. “You generally know who has cleared waivers,” said Stearns. “At this point, most of the guys have gone through. We are having conversations. I think most contending clubs are having conversations.” Stearns added that the limited rental period for impending free agents acquired this time of season makes the cost of acquisition even more crucial but said the Milwaukee front office is still “out there looking to improve the team if we can find the right match.”

Looking Ahead To Cole Hamels’ 2019 Option

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When the Cubs traded for Cole Hamels just days prior to the non-waiver deadline, he was largely viewed as a rental. The discrepancy between his performance at Globe Life Park in Arlington (6.41 ERA, 6.16 FIP, 16 of his 23 homers allowed) and his performance on the road (2.93 ERA, 4.17 FIP, seven homers) led to some speculation that he could at the very least make the Cubs think. However, few could’ve predicted this level of dominance to open his stint with the Cubs.

Through 34 innings, Hamels is sporting a masterful 0.79 ERA with a 30-to-8 K/BB ratio, no homers allowed and a 54.2 percent ground-ball rate that would be the best of his career over a full season. The 34-year-old allowed a whopping 44.9 percent hard-contact rate with the Rangers but has seen that mark plummet to 27.9 percent with the Cubs. A sub-1.00 ERA surely isn’t sustainable for the lefty, but fielding-independent metrics — 2.36 FIP, 3.19 xFIP, 3.41 SIERA — all feel he’s very legitimately improved his performance. He’s leaned far more heavily on his fastball, shying away from cutters/two-seamers and (to a lesser extent) his breaking offerings since switching uniforms.

The rapid turnaround considerably enhances the possibility that the Cubs would want to retain Hamels for the 2019 season, though as Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports in his latest 10 Degrees column, the finances aren’t exactly straightforward. Per Passan, at the time of the trade, the Rangers agreed to pay the $6MM buyout on Hamels’ option. That money, however, wouldn’t go to the Cubs in the event that Chicago decides to exercise the option. So while some may have previously looked at Hamels as a $14MM decision for the Cubs, it’s a costlier one than that: either let the Rangers buy out the option or pay the full $20MM with no financial assistance from the left-hander’s former team.

It’s a small but dominant sample for Hamels, but if the improvements in his performance are as legitimate as they prove to be, a one-year deal worth $20MM for the Cubs would hardly be a stretch. Chicago already has plenty of starters under control for the 2019 season in Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, Yu Darvish, Tyler Chatwood, Drew Smyly and Mike Montgomery, though the front office could conceivably look to dump Chatwood in a swap of bad contracts and/or look at Montgomery and Smyly in long relief/sixth starter roles. Creating that level of depth in the rotation would hardly be a bad thing for the Cubs — especially with so much uncertainty surrounding Darvish, Chatwood and Smyly.

Conversely, if the Cubs opt not to pay Hamels at a premium rate for the 2019 season, the veteran’s free-agent stock will be fascinating to monitor. Much has been made of Hamels already regaining the velocity he appeared to have lost early in the season, and his recent work with the Cubs has potentially set the stage for a multi-year deal in free agency. Even one month ago, that would’ve seemed a long shot at best.

A month ago, Hamels looked like a back-of-the-rotation rental destined for a one-year deal in free agency. Now, the final month of the season and any potential postseason appearances, will prove pivotal for both Hamels and the Cubs in terms of each party’s future — to say nothing of the Rangers, who’d apparently be absolved of a $6MM commitment if Hamels remains with the Cubs.

With the caveat that things can once again change dramatically in a month, let’s see where readers stand on the issue at the moment (link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users)…

Will the Cubs exercise their option on Cole Hamels?
Yes. He's proven that he's still a top-tier pitcher (or at least worth a one-year, $20MM deal). 60.79% (4,732 votes)
No. He'll come back to earth between now and free agency (and/or the Cubs have too much money in the rotation as it is). 39.21% (3,052 votes)
Total Votes: 7,784

Central Notes: Tribe, Ramirez, Votto, Cubs

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Here’s the latest from MLB’s Central divisions:

  • Cleveland has come up as a speculative trade destination for Toronto’s Josh Donaldson, and if the Indians acquire him or another third baseman this month, it would mean shifting Jose Ramirez from the hot corner to second base. However, manager Terry Francona threw some cold water on a potential in-season position change for Ramirez on Sunday, telling Jordan Bastian of MLB.com: “I know it sounds good on paper and it even sounds good to me on paper. There’s other things you have to think about other than just numbers.” Francona added that Ramirez hasn’t worked out at second base this season, which he posited may make the superstar more susceptible to an injury, and suggested switching positions at this juncture could throw Ramirez off track during an MVP-caliber season. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting Ramirez did rack up significant experience at the keystone last year, when he appeared in 71 games at the position. Incumbent second base starter Jason Kipnis has appeared in 118 games there this season, but he has limped to a .216/.305/.345 line in 493 plate appearances, leading to the possibility of the Tribe upgrading at that spot.
  • The right knee contusion that sent Reds first baseman Joey Votto to the disabled list on Aug. 17 is “way worse” than the team originally thought, manager Jim Riggleman told Matthew Martell of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. As such, Votto may not be ready to come off the DL when he’s first eligible, per Riggleman, though he did add that the 34-year-old has made notable progress since he landed on the shelf. Votto incurred the injury on a hit by pitch from Nationals reliever Ryan Madson.
  • Beginning Friday, the Cubs will employ a six-man rotation, at least temporarily, manager Joe Maddon said Sunday (via Bruce Levine of 670 The Score). Alec Mills will stay among the starting staff after turning in a solid outing against Cincinnati this past Friday, and lefty Mike Montgomery will soon come off the DL – where he has been since Aug. 17 because of shoulder inflammation – to rejoin the group. With the Cubs amid a stretch in which they’re playing 23 straight games without an off day, the decision will provide a respite for top starters Jon Lester, Cole Hamels, Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana as the playoffs approach.

Quick Hits: DeGrom, Bryant, Ohtani

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The latest on a few of the majors’ biggest names…

  • While Mets ace Jacob deGrom was popular in trade speculation leading up to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, the club “never seriously pursued” dealing the NL Cy Young hopeful, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. For now, deGrom remains under New York’s control through 2020, even though he and his agent have pushed for a contract extension. DeGrom addressed his future again Saturday, telling Sherman that the Mets “have every right to ride me for the next two years [until his free agency] and say, ‘See you later.’ ” However, the 30-year-old right-hander hopes it doesn’t come to that; rather, he’d prefer to stay with the Mets, according to Sherman.
  • Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant has been out since July 26 because of left shoulder inflammation, but it appears he’s about to serve as a key reinforcement for the NL Central leaders. Bryant could embark on a rehab assignment beginning Monday, and it’s possible he’ll return to the Cubs next week at the start of their 11-game road trip, per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic (subscription required). That road swing begins Aug. 30 in Atlanta.
  • Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani threw a bullpen session Saturday and then told reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com) that he’s confident he’ll pitch again this year. A Grade 2 UCL sprain in Ohtani’s right elbow has kept him off a major league mound since June 6, though he’ll take another step toward a return when he throws a 45- to 50-pitch simulated game on Monday, Guardado reports. Ohtani’s injury has prevented him from making a significant impact as a pitcher this year, but the rookie has still held his own at the plate, having slashed .274/.354/.540 with 14 home runs in 255 PAs.

Quick Hits: Donaldson, Holliday, Rangers, Perez, Cubs, Hamels

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Injured Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will be eligible to go on August trade waivers if he embarks on a rehab assignment, but “it appears unlikely” that’s going to happen, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. Donaldson has been out since the end of May with a calf strain, which has stopped the out-of-contention Blue Jays from dealing him as he closes in on free agency. If Toronto’s unable to trade Donaldson this month, it’ll have to keep him through season’s end and then decide before the market opens whether to issue the soon-to-be 33-year-old a qualifying offer (worth $17.4MM last winter). Donaldson was among the majors’ best players as recently as last year, which suggests the Blue Jays will tender him a QO, though multiple DL stints this season have limited him to 36 games and an unspectacular .234/.333/.423 line in 159 plate appearances.

More from around the game…

  • First baseman/outfielder Matt Holliday went without a contract until July 28, when the Rockies signed him to a minor league pact, but he did garner offers before then. It seems the 38-year-old held off on signing because he wanted to join a team with which he had a “personal connection,” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. With that in mind, Holliday said Friday he’d have been open to offers from the Rockies, Cardinals, and perhaps the Yankees – all teams he has played for – as well as certain other unnamed clubs. After a brief and highly successful run at the Triple-A level with the Rockies, Holliday’s back in Colorado, which selected his contract Thursday. On Saturday, in his fifth at-bat of the year, Holliday victimized the Cardinals with a pinch-hit, 448-foot blast to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead. The Rox ended up rolling to a 9-1 win to climb within a half-game of the Cards for the NL’s top wild-card spot.
  • Texas will have to decide after the season whether to exercise left-hander Martin Perez’s $7.5MM option for 2019 or buy him out for $750K. Even though $7.5MM isn’t a bank-breaking number and the Rangers are hard up for pitching, Perez is not making a strong case to stick with the club, Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram observes. Perez gave up four earned runs in five innings during a loss to the Giants on Saturday, raising his ERA to 6.95 over 68 2/3 frames this year. Because of Perez’s struggles, it’s possible the Rangers will take a page from the Rays’ book and use an “opener” in front of him in his next scheduled outing, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. In doing so, they’d hope to mitigate Perez’s issues against the top of teams’ lineups, as Grant explains in his piece.
  • Conversely, Cubs lefty Cole Hamels – one of Perez’s former teammates – is making a real argument for his employer to pick up his option after the season, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times points out. At $20MM, Hamels’ price tag is far higher than Perez’s, but the former has pitched like someone worthy of an exorbitant salary since the Cubs acquired him from Texas last month. The Cubs have won all five of Hamels’ starts, during which he has totaled 34 innings of .79 ERA ball and posted 30 strikeouts against eight walks. With the NL Central-leading Cubs primed to play into October, Hamels will have time to keep stating his case to remain in Chicago, and he seems hopeful the union will continue. “That’s obviously something that I know [team president] Theo [Epstein] and the ownership and I think [manager Joe] Maddon will have to think about,” Hamels told Wittenmyer in regards to his option. “My job is to obviously make them think a little bit harder.” In the event the Cubs decline Hamels’ option, they’ll walk away scot-free from his $6MM buyout – which Texas will have to pay.

Cubs Health Updates: Darvish, Chatwood, Morrow, Duensing

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The Cubs remain in good position in the NL Central, in no small part due to the recent heroics of recently acquired pitcher Cole Hamels. The veteran just wrapped up a complete-game performance tonight and has allowed less than one earned run per nine innings in his first five starts in a Cubs uniform. Of course, he would likely not have ended up in Chicago were it not for the difficulties experienced by a few of the team’s recently signed, high-priced starters.

  • Yu Darvish, Hamels’s former rotation mate in Texas, has already been declared out for the rest of the 2018 season. He addressed that fact with reporters today, with MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat among those on hand. The veteran righty says he felt all along “there was something else other than the tightness” he was experiencing in his pitching arm, so much so that the diagnosis of a stress reaction came as something of a relief. Darvish indicated that he’s not even thinking about the season to come so much as he is trying to care for his ailing arm. Still, he expressed confidence that he’ll bounce back and be “stronger going forward.” That’ll obviously be the hope of the Cubs organization, which still has $101MM invested in Darvish after the present season.
  • The club also announced today that righty Tyler Chatwood is headed to the DL with hip soreness, as Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune covers. He’ll be replaced on the roster by Dillon Maples, for the time being, with Alec Mills set to come up to start tomorrow. Chatwood has been plagued by walks all year long, racking up 93 to go with his 85 strikeouts over 101 2/3 innings. That’s simply not a manageable rate of free passes, as his 5.22 ERA reflects. Details of the new malady remain scant, but it certainly seems there are good reasons for the club to find cause to give Chatwood a breather regardless.
  • Another major recent open-market signee, Brandon Morrow, has performed as hoped when he has been available. But the closer has been sidelined for over a month with a balky elbow and still lacks a clear timeline. He went in for a checkup today, says Muskat. That examination evidently did not reveal anything of particular note, though it was not arranged due to any fear of a setback. It seems the hope remains that Morrow will return at some point in the final month of the regular season.
  • In other Chicago reliever news, Brian Duensing — yet another hurler who signed with the Cubs in free agency last winter — is headed for a rehab assignment. The 35-year-old southpaw, who carries an ugly 7.34 ERA on the year, has been on the shelf for the past several weeks with a shoulder ailment.

Injury Notes: Shoemaker, Cubs, Ozuna, Pineda, Villanueva

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Angels righty Matt Shoemaker underwent forearm surgery earlier this summer — an operation that repaired the pronator teres tendon and also decompressed a nerve in his right arm. While that sounded ominous and called the remainder of his season into question, Shoemaker has thrown a pair of simulated games recently and tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he’s aiming to return to the Angels in September. Shoemaker has been battling injuries for much of his career and has only pitched once in the Majors since last June. As he explains it, the tendon damage in his arm was not initially revealed on an MRI and was not detected during a 2017 operation because that surgery was performed a few inches away from the tendon damage. It took exploratory surgery for doctors to discover a “split tendon,” which Shoemaker believes to have been the root of his troubles.

Some more injury news from around the league…

  • The Cubs put Addison Russell on the disabled list today as a corresponding move for the activation of newly acquired Daniel Murphy. As MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat writes, the official announcement stated that a sprained left index finger was prompting the DL placement, but Russell has also been bothered by inflammation in his right shoulder. He’ll get some needed rest from the current DL stint, though there’s no indication that he’s expected to miss a prolonged period of time. There’s less certainty regarding closer Brandon Morrow, Muskat continues, explaining that the right-hander is headed for more tests on his ailing right biceps Friday and isn’t expected to return until September. Morrow has been sidelined since mid-July.
  • The Cardinals announced today that left fielder Marcell Ozuna has been placed on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder. It’s a tough loss for the Cards, even if it’s only an abbreviated stint, as Ozuna had hit safely in 22 of his past 27 games, batting a combined .315/.356/.532 with six homers, four doubles and a triple in that span of 118 plate appearances. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Ozuna’s shoulder has been problematic dating all the way back to last season. The Cardinals were aware of the issue when trading for him, Goold writes, and the team has tried to limit Ozuna’s throwing outside of a game setting throughout the season in order to lessen the stress on said shoulder.
  • Michael Pineda is slated to make two more starts for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate before joining the big league club in September, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. Signed to a two-year, $10MM deal that pays him $8MM in 2019, Pineda is in the final stages of recovering from 2017 Tommy John surgery and is expected to be an important piece in Minnesota’s rotation next season. Manager Paul Molitor wouldn’t rule out giving Pineda a start or two in September but said he doesn’t plan to get him too stretched out. Berardino suggests that Pineda won’t top 75 pitches in any appearance this year.
  • Padres third baseman Christian Villanueva has been diagnosed with a fractured finger and is headed to the 10-day disabled list, tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Villanueva wasn’t in today’s lineup due to some swelling in his hand after taking a tough grounder yesterday, and further testing appears to have revealed the fracture. A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow. It’s not clear how long Villanueva will be out. The 27-year-old Villanueva has utterly demolished left-handed pitching this season, hitting at an absurd .336/.392/.736 clip with 14 home runs through 113 plate appearances when holding the platoon advantage. Unfortunately, he’s mustered a feeble .189/.255/.319 slash against right-handed opponents.
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