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Rockies, Stephen Gonsalves Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies are in agreement with Stephen Gonsalves on a minor league contract, per the transaction log at MLB.com. The southpaw is headed to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Gonsalves, 29, began this season in the Dodgers system. He inked a non-roster deal with L.A. in January. The Dodgers assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he struggled over 18 innings of relief. Gonsalves allowed 12 runs on 14 hits and an alarming 20 walks. The Dodgers briefly assigned him back to their Arizona complex before releasing him last week.

A former fourth-round draftee of the Twins, the San Diego native was once a reasonably highly-regarded prospect. Gonsalves didn’t carry over his dominant low minors production once he reached Triple-A, though. He owns a 4.23 earned run average in parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. His 27.1% strikeout percentage is above average, but he’s walked nearly 16% of his opponents. Gonsalves hasn’t gotten much of a major league look as a result. He has pitched in 10 MLB games, logging a 6.21 ERA through 29 innings.

Gonsalves has starting experience, though he’s worked out of the bullpen since 2022. He’ll presumably step into long relief for Albuquerque. The Rox have cycled through a few bullpen arms in recent days and evidently needed to backfill some of their lost upper minors depth.

Daniel Bard Planning Comeback In 2025

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Daniel Bard is losing the entire 2024 season to injury. The Rockies reliever underwent arthroscopic surgery to fix a meniscus tear in his left knee in February. While rehabbing, he went down with a forearm injury and underwent a season-ending flexor tendon repair.

At the time of the arm surgery, the 38-year-old righty was noncommittal about whether he’d continue his career. Now that he’s six weeks removed from the procedure, Bard tells Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that he plans to give it another go.

“Going into the surgery, I was probably 50-50,” Bard told Saunders over the weekend. “When you first find out you need surgery and you are going to miss 12 months, there is that moment of disappointment. You kind of get the wind knocked out of you. But having a few weeks to think about it and watch baseball, it really makes me want to see if I’ve got it next spring.”

Bard, who turns 39 in June, is in the second season of an extension he signed with the Rox. He was amidst a stellar 2022 season as Colorado’s closer when he and the team agreed on a two-year, $19MM deal covering the 2023-24 campaigns. The extension came together days before the ’22 trade deadline. Bard would have been one of the top rental relievers on the summer market, but a noncompetitive Colorado team elected to keep him around.

That decision didn’t work out at all as the Rox hoped. Bard began the 2023 season on the injured list after battling anxiety issues that had sidetracked his career in the mid-2010s. While he made it back to the mound, he had trouble finding the strike zone. Bard walked more than 21% of opposing hitters and spent the season working in the middle innings. He probably would have gotten another chance to compete for the closer role this spring, but the injuries wrecked that plan.

Saunders writes that Bard will spend his time on the injured list in Denver to serve as a mentor to Colorado’s younger bullpen mates. The Rox have had a very tough go in the late innings. Rockies relievers have allowed a league-worst 5.10 earned runs per nine. Jalen Beeks and Victor Vodnik have managed decent run prevention marks despite middling strikeout rates. The rest of Colorado’s bullpen has struggled, with particularly disappointing numbers from late-inning arms Justin Lawrence and Tyler Kinley.

Given the seemingly strong relationship between Bard and the Rockies, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Colorado keeps him around for his 2025 comeback attempt. He’ll be a free agent next offseason and will almost certainly need to take a minor league contract, but the Rox could have interest in such an arrangement.

Rockies Designate John Curtiss, Select Josh Rogers

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The Rockies are making a series of roster moves today, relayed by Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette on X. Right-hander Peter Lambert has been recalled while left-hander Josh Rogers has had his contract selected. In corresponding moves, right-hander Justin Lawrence has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain while fellow righty John Curtiss has been designated for assignment. Lawrence’s move is retroactive to May 26. Additionally, left-hander Austin Gomber has been bumped from his start due to some soreness but won’t be placed on the IL. The club also announced that Matt Koch has been outrighted to Triple-A.

The club is seemingly looking to get some fresh arms into a fairly taxed pitching staff, especially with Gomber missing his start. The lefty was supposed to take the ball today said today that he wouldn’t have been able to give it his all, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com on X. “I just felt like I would have been probably at like 85% today,” Gomber said. “Where we’re at right now, still being in May, it was probably smarter to just buy a couple days.”

Anthony Molina will be taking the ball instead, though his last appearance was a single-inning outing on May 17. His previous appearance was 3 2/3 innings but that was all the way back on May 8. That means he’s only thrown one inning in more than two weeks, which likely limits how much the Rockies can reasonably expect out of him today.

The bullpen will likely need to be leaned on heavily today, but each of Jalen Beeks, Tyler Kinley, Victor Vodnik and Nick Mears have thrown three times in the past five days. With the group fairly strained overall and Lawrence now going on the IL, today’s moves get them some reinforcements.

Curtiss, 31, is bumped off the roster as a result, just a few days after being added to it. He made one appearance on Saturday, allowing two earned runs while recording just one out. Prior to his selection, his Triple-A results weren’t especially strong, as he had a 6.75 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.

The righty had a decent run with the Rays, Marlins and Brewers in 2020 and 2021. Over those two seasons, he tossed 69 1/3 innings  with a 2.86 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, which wiped out his 2022.

He was back on the mound with the Mets last year but had a 4.58 ERA in 19 2/3 innings, striking out just 19.8% of batters faced. He was placed on the 60-day injured list in August due to loose bodies in his throwing elbow. He underwent surgery shortly thereafter and was outrighted off their roster at season’s end. The Rockies will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Taking his spot on the 40-man is Rogers, who gets back to the big leagues for the first time since 2022. The 29-year-old southpaw signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the offseason and has made nine Triple-A starts this year. He has a 5.44 ERA in that time, with a 14.6% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate.

Rogers has 88 innings of major league experience, scattered over the 2018 to 2022 period with the Orioles and Nationals. He has a career ERA of 5.42, striking out 11.6% of batters while walking 9.3% of opponents. Since he’s been stretched out this year, he should be able to give the club some length out of the bullpen.

Koch, 33, was designated for assignment on Friday when Curtiss was selected. Today’s outright indicates that he passed through waivers unclaimed. He has been previously outrighted in his career, which gives him the right to elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so. He has a 5.18 ERA in 168 2/3 major league innings.

Injured List Transactions: Beck, Robertson, Saucedo

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Rockies outfielder Jordan Beck suffered a fracture in his left hand while making a diving catch of a Nick Castellanos line drive in Colorado’s 8-4 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday.  The injury naturally forced Beck out of the game, and the Rockies placed him on the 10-day injured list today, with outfielder Sean Bouchard called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Beck told reporters (including the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders) that he’ll undergo more tests today, and might then have a better idea of his recovery timeline.

Beck has been Colorado’s everyday left fielder since he made his MLB debut on April 30, as the Rox have wanted to take a long look at the top-100 prospect.  It hasn’t been a smooth transition for Beck, who was hitting only .190/.198/.316 with 30 strikeouts over his first 81 plate appearances in the big leagues.  The broken hand only adds to these woes, though getting to bank Major League service time while on the IL might represent some small silver lining for the 23-year-old.

Some other comings and goings from injured lists around baseball….

  • The Cardinals placed right-hander Nick Robertson on the 15-day IL (retroactive to May 23) and called up righty Andre Pallante from Triple-A Memphis.  Robertson is dealing with inflammation in his throwing elbow, but he told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (X link) that he doesn’t believe the injury is too serious.  St. Louis acquired Robertson from the Red Sox as part of the trade package for Tyler O’Neill last December, and he has posted a 4.38 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Cardinals’ bullpen.  A .364 BABIP and three homers allowed have inflated Robertson’s ERA, as his walk (3.8%) and strikeout (26.9%) rates have been impressive.
  • The Mariners reinstated left-hander Tayler Saucedo from the 15-day IL, and created roster space by optioning righty Eduard Bazardo to Triple-A.  Saucedo returns after missing just shy of three weeks due to a hyperextension of his right knee.  After emerging as a solid member of Seattle’s bullpen last year, Saucedo has been even better this season, with a 2.70 ERA and 52.8% grounder rate over his first 14 appearances and 13 1/3 innings in 2024.

Rockies Select John Curtiss, Matt Carasiti

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The Rockies made a pair of bullpen moves before tonight’s matchup with the Phillies. Colorado selected righties John Curtiss and Matt Carasiti onto the MLB roster. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Peter Lambert to Triple-A Albuquerque and designated Matt Koch for assignment. To open the second necessary 40-man roster spot, the Rox transferred Kyle Freeland to the 60-day injured list.

Colorado played consecutive extra-inning games against the A’s on Wednesday and Thursday. The Rox won the former in 12 innings but dropped yesterday’s 11-inning contest in disappointing fashion. The bullpen blew leads in the ninth, tenth and eleventh frames — surrendering five runs in the final inning to get walked off after scoring four in the top half.

Koch and Lambert were the last two arms out of Bud Black’s relief corps yesterday. Koch didn’t record an out, allowing hits to Max Schuemann and Abraham Toro before serving up a game-tying homer to JJ Bleday. Lambert managed two outs before walking Tyler Soderstrom with the bases loaded to end the game. That likely took both players out of the picture for tonight and ultimately squeezed them each off the MLB roster.

The 33-year-old Koch signed an offseason minor league deal and was just selected to the big league roster over the weekend. Yesterday’s outing was his second of the season. The righty worked to a 5.12 ERA over 38 2/3 innings for Colorado a year ago. The Rox will likely put him on waivers in the next few days.

Curtiss, 31, inked a minor league deal in January. He has been hit hard for a 6.75 ERA over 21 1/3 innings with the Isotopes. The 6’5″ righty had solid results with the Rays and Marlins between 2020-21 before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He returned to the majors with the Mets a year ago, allowing 4.58 earned runs per nine with a modest 19.8% strikeout rate through 30 appearances. Curtiss is out of options, so the Rox would need to designate him for assignment if they don’t keep him in the MLB bullpen.

Carasiti still has one option remaining, so the Rockies could move him between Denver and Albuquerque. He’s in his second season in the organization and threw 24 1/3 MLB frames a year ago. Carasiti turned in a 6.29 ERA with nearly as many walks as strikeouts in the majors. He has been tagged for 5.91 ERA in the Pacific Coast League this year, but he’s punching out nearly 27% of opposing hitters at that level.

Freeland’s 60-day minimum is retroactive to his original IL placement on April 16. The veteran left-hander suffered an elbow strain after four starts. He’s throwing off a mound but hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Freeland can pitch in the minors before his 60 days are up; he’ll be eligible for a return to MLB action in the second week of June.

Rockies Outright Julio Carreras

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The Rockies announced that infielder Julio Carreras has been sent outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Sunday. The club also reinstated infielder/outfielder Kris Bryant from the injured list, with outfielder Sean Bouchard optioned to Albuquerque in a corresponding move. Thomas Harding of MLB.com relayed the moves on X shortly before the official announcement.

Carreras, 24, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. Prospect reviews have generally considered him talented in terms of his speed and defense but with larger questions about how his bat would play as he climbed the minor league ladder.

He had a good season in 2022, getting into 110 games at High-A and hitting 11 home runs. His .289/.352/.473 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 129 and he also stole 17 bases. That got him a late-season promotion to Double-A and the Rockies put him on their 40-man roster to keep him out of that year’s Rule 5 draft.

Unfortunately, the offensive results haven’t been as impressive since then. He hit .238/.324/.340 last year between Double-A and Triple-A for an 84 wRC+. Back at Triple-A this year, he’s produced a dismal line of .181/.247/.268 while striking out in 32.9% of his plate appearances.

He was bumped off Colorado’s roster a couple of days ago and none of the other 29 clubs were willing to take a chance on him. Since this is his first career outright, he’ll stay in the Rockies’ system and try to work his way back onto the roster.

Bryant will once again try to get into a good groove as a member of the Rockies, something that he has not been able to do thanks to injuries. He hit well in 2022 but only got into 42 contests, dealing with back problems and left foot plantar fasciitis. Last year, IL stints occurred due to a left heel bruise and a fractured left index finger. Here in 2024, a low back strain sent him to the IL just over a month ago.

The Rockies were surely hoping for more when they signed him to a seven-year, $182MM deal going into 2022. So far, they have received just 135 big league games from Bryant with a line of just .249/.329/.391, which translates to an 89 wRC+.

He will likely take over at first base, as Elehuris Montero is hitting just .221/.275/.307 this year. Brenton Doyle, Jake Cave and Jordan Beck will handle outfield duties, occasionally joined by designated hitter Charlie Blackmon.

Rockies Select Matt Koch

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The Rockies announced this afternoon that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Matt Koch. Right-hander Jake Bird was placed on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation to clear a spot on the club’s active roster, while infielder Julio Carreras was designated for assignment to open up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Koch, 33, was a third-round pick by the Mets in the 2012 draft but made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2016. In parts of four seasons with Arizona, Koch swung between the rotation and bullpen but generally struggled badly throughout his time in the majors with a 4.88 ERA and 6.00 FIP in 125 1/3 innings. Koch departed the Dbacks organization following the 2019 season and did not pitch in the big leagues over the next two seasons before eventually resurfacing with the Mariners for four appearances in 2022, though he struggled badly with an 8.31 ERA and 8.42 FIP in 4 1/3 frames.

That eventually led Koch to sign with the Rockies on a minor league deal prior to the 2023 season. He was a serviceable member of the club’s bullpen last year, pitching to a 5.12 ERA (good for a roughly league average 97 ERA+ due to the inflated offensive environment of Coors Field) with a roughly matching 5.07 FIP in 39 appearances for Colorado last year. While he struck out just 16.6% of batters faced, he limited walks to a 5.5% clip while generating groundballs and a strong 49% clip. Looking ahead, the Rockies are surely hoping that Koch will offer the club adequate middle relief from the left-hand side once again this year, as he’ll enter the club’s bullpen as the only lefty relief option besides closer Jalen Beeks.

Making room for Koch on the active roster is Bird, who is headed to the injured list with elbow inflammation. The 28-year-old righty was a fifth-round pick by the Rockies in the 2018 draft and has pitched for the club in each of the last three seasons, including a solid 2023 campaign where he posted a 4.33 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 89 1/3 innings of work. While that seemingly set Bird up to handle key leverage innings for Colorado out of the bullpen this year, things haven’t gone according to plan as he’s struggled badly to the tune of a 6.10 ERA and nearly matching 6.34 FIP in 20 2/3 innings of work prior to his placement on the injured list today. Bird’s timetable for return is not currently clear, though the Rockies are surely hoping he’ll look more like his 2023 self upon his return.

As for Carreras, the 24-year-old first appeared in pro ball with the Rockies back in 2018 and entered the season as a fairly well-regarded prospect in the club’s farm system thanks to his strong infield defense, power potential, and proximity to the big leagues. That was enough for the club to decide to add Carreras to the 40-man roster this winter, and a strong .304/.388/.461 performance in the Dominican Winter League this past offseason seemingly further set up Carreras as a potential infield depth option for the big league club this year.

Unfortunately. Carreras’s prospects have taken a turn for the worse since the season began. In 38 games at the Triple-A level this season, Carreras has slashed just .181/.247/.269. That’s a tough slash line to swallow at any level of pro ball, though it’s especially weak given the heightened offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, where the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate plays its games. Colorado will have one week to either trade Carreras or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he successfully clears waivers, the Rockies will have the opportunity to assign Carreras outright to the minor leagues and maintain him as non-roster depth.

Ryan McMahon Could Be The Next Rockies Test Case

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The Rockies finished off a sweep of the Padres yesterday and hold MLB's longest active win streak at seven games. It's their best stretch in five years and has pulled them back ahead of the Marlins at the bottom of the National League.

Colorado is still 13 games below .500, though, leaving them without realistic postseason aspirations. Other teams will call on some of their veteran players throughout the summer. At the top of the list of interesting trade candidates is Ryan McMahon, whose early-season performance should get him some consideration for the first All-Star nod of his career.

McMahon has been a productive player for a few years. He's a plus defender at third base who'll top 20 home runs on an annual basis. While he strikes out a fair amount, he draws enough walks to keep a respectable on-base percentage. After adjusting for his home park, McMahon has been a slightly below-average hitter who provides plenty of defensive value -- a good everyday infielder who's a little shy of being a star.

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NL West Notes: Rodriguez, Thomas, Musgrove, Montgomery

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The Diamondbacks sent both left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and outfielder Alek Thomas for MRI exams last week, and Torey Lovullo told reporters (per MLB.com’s Injury Tracker) that the results of Rodriguez’s MRI were “very positive,” but that there was no update on Thomas’s status as the club plans to seek second and third opinions on the youngster’s results.

It’s excellent news for the Diamondbacks that Rodriguez is making his way toward a return, with Lovullo indicating that he’s set to begin a throwing program. Rodriguez will be sidelined through at least May 24 due to his placement on the 60-day injured list but it’s at least feasible he could return to game action not long after that if he manages to avoid further setbacks. Rodriguez’s lat injury woes have prevented him from making his Dbacks debut to this point in the 2024 campaign, but he’s coming off an excellent season with the Tigers last year that saw him post a 3.30 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 152 2/3 innings of work and should provide a major boost to an Arizona rotation that’s currently relying on Ryne Nelson and Slade Cecconi in the absence of Rodriguez and veteran righty Merrill Kelly.

As for Thomas, the lack of update from the Diamondbacks is a somewhat ominous sign regarding his hamstring. The 24-year-old was initially scheduled to be activated from the IL last week but ended up exiting a rehab outing with Triple-A due to an issue with his injured hamstring on May 5 that ultimately did not improve after a day off, prompting Arizona to delay his return and send him for testing. Once a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport, Thomas has struggled at the big league level with a .230/.273/.362 slash line in 242 career games but nonetheless figured to be the club’s starting center fielder this season. Corbin Carroll has handled center field in Thomas’s absence with Jake McCarthy stepping from the bench into Thomas’s spot in the lineup while manning right field.

More from the NL West…

  • Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove is making good progress in his return from right elbow inflammation, according to manager Mike Shildt (per MLB.com’s Injury Tracker). The 31-year-old’s initial worrisome diagnosis was described as “precautionary” when he was initially placed on the shelf last week, and it appears that description was an apt one as Musgrove has reportedly already begun light baseball activities, including playing catch. MLB.com writes that the right-hander is optimistic that he’ll be able to return “shortly after” the minimum 15-day stint on the IL, which would likely result in him returning to action sometime next week. San Diego is surely hoping that Musgrove will look more like the ace hurler who posted a 3.05 ERA in 459 2/3 innings in a Padres uniform entering the 2024 campaign than he has to this point in the season, as he struggled badly with a 6.37 ERA and 5.96 FIP in eight starts prior to his placement on the shelf.
  • The Rockies may have lost outfield prospect Benny Montgomery for the season on Friday, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding relays that the 21-year-old underwent shoulder surgery that Rockies director of player development Chris Forbes said will keep him out until at least “toward the end of the year” if he’s able to return this season at all. The club’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft, Montgomery turned heads during the Arizona Fall League last year with a .333/.436/.500 slash line in 19 games and was hitting a solid .283/.313/.500 in his first taste of Double-A action before being sidelined by the shoulder injury.

Kris Bryant Discusses Injuries, Rockies Tenure

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Kris Bryant and the Rockies have endured a brutal start to the seven-year deal the sides agreed upon prior to the 2022 season. Since he landed in Colorado, the veteran has appeared in just 135 of the club’s 363 contests and has generally struggled at the plate even when healthy enough to take the field, slashing just .249/.329/.391 in 571 trips to the plate with the club. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post took an in-depth look at Bryant’s Rockies tenure this morning, noting that despite the veteran’s struggles he still believes he’ll be able to contribute in Colorado once healthy.

“I know [my talent] is still in there. There are flashes of it, and I can’t wait to get out there and play again,” Bryant told Saunders.

It’s an open question whether Bryant will eventually get healthy enough to rediscover the talent that convinced the Rockies to invest $182MM in him just over two years ago, but it’s hard to deny how valuable such an outcome would be for Colorado. The second-overall pick in the 2013 draft, Bryant’s career kicked off with a bang when he slashed an excellent .284/.377/.522 in 306 games as the Cubs’ starting third baseman over his first two years in the big leagues. Those seasons saw him earn two All Star appearances, a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP award, and hoist the first World Series trophy on the north side of Chicago in more than a century. Bryant would go on to finish seventh in NL MVP voting the following year and make two more All Star appearances throughout his time with the club before wrapping up his Cubs career with a .279/.378/.508 slash line across 833 games.

That incredible talent has not been on display in Colorado, but it appears he could return to action and resume his attempts to rediscover his power stroke in the near future. MLB.com’s Injury Tracker indicates that Bryant is on track to make a relatively quick return to the Rockies, with manager Bud Black telling reporters yesterday that Bryant is slated to begin a rehab assignment later this week and could return to the big league club as soon as May 17 in San Francisco. That the 32-year-old is nearing a return hardly means his injury woes are entirely behind him. Bryant told Saunders that the disc problems and severe arthritis he’s dealing with will be an issue throughout the remainder of his playing career. Even so, the former MVP went on to note that he’s currently feeling “the best [he’s] felt in a long time” in terms of his health.

Bryant isn’t the only player making his way toward a return for the Rockies, as Black also told reporters (including Luke Zahlman of the Denver Gazette) that Bryant will be joined in Albuquerque by outfielder Nolan Jones. Jones, who impressed with a 135 wRC+ in his first season with the Rockies last year but struggled badly in 26 games this season before hitting the injured list, is said by Black to be “a couple days” behind Bryant but nonetheless figures to start a rehab assignment of his own in the near future with a return by the end of the month on the table.

Further away from big league action is right-hander German Marquez, who underwent Tommy John surgery a year ago today. Black told reporters (including Zahlman) that Marquez is making progress in his rehab and has already thrown four innings in extended Spring Training and a scoreless frame in the Arizona Complex League. That being said, the right-hander figures to require a lengthy rehab assignment once he’s ready to begin starting games, with Black suggesting that the righty will likely need five or six rehab outings before he can return to the big league mound. Marquez returning in time to pitch the second half for Colorado would be a huge boost to the club’s rotation, which currently ranks dead last in the majors with a 5.91 ERA.

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