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Rangers Activate Adrian Beltre

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The Rangers have activated veteran third baseman Adrian Beltre, as had been expected. He’s starting and hitting cleanup in tonight’s lineup. Infielder/outfielder Drew Robinson was optioned to open a spot on the active roster.

This’ll represent the first action on the year for Beltre, the 38-year-old star. He excelled yet again last year, slashing .300/.358/.521 over 640 plate appearances while continuing to play excellent defense at the hot corner. Beltre is owed $36MM in total for this year and next under the extension he signed with the Rangers last April.

Beltre was held out until now, though, with ongoing calf issues that took longer than expected to resolve. He hasn’t played in less than 111 games since way back in 1998, when Beltre debuted at 19 years of age. He has averaged 147 games per year ever since.

In Beltre’s stead, long-time top prospect Joey Gallo had an extended opportunity and perhaps earned a lengthier run at the MLB level. While his batting average (.198) and on-base percentage (.305) leave plenty to be desired, Gallo has launched 15 home runs and carries a .525 slugging percentage through fifty games of action.

For tonight, Gallo is sliding over to first base, though that’s due in part to a minor injury issue for incumbent first bagger Mike Napoli (per Anthony Andro, on Twitter). It’s not yet known just how the team will handle things in the long run, though. Gallo has spent some time in the outfield in the past and might appear there, too, particularly while Carlos Gomez is on the DL. The DH slot would also be an option, though Shin-Soo Choo has commanded the bulk of the time there thus far.

Quick Hits: Eibner, Torres, Padres, Gallo

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The Dodgers are experimenting with using outfielder Brett Eibner as a pitcher, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. Eibner pitched in college and reached 95 MPH with his fastball, and he’s now working on developing secondary pitches; it remains to be seen, of course, how those would play against big-leaguers. The Dodgers’ plan is to continue to treat Eibner primarily as an outfielder, but they envision using him as a pitcher more frequently than the typical position player taking the mound to relieve an exhausted staff. If Eibner were to prove effective as a pitcher, he’d become a useful and interesting tactical piece, reminiscent, perhaps, of a two-way player like Brooks Kieschnick, who first arrived in the big leagues as an outfielder but who also ended up pitching for Milwaukee in 2003 and 2004. The added versatility might also help Eibner from being shipped back and forth to Triple-A so frequently, Shaikin suggests — the Dodgers have already optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City four times this season. Here’s more from around the game.

  • The Yankees have promoted top prospect Gleyber Torres to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, as MLB.com’s Matt Kardos first tweeted. Torres hit well for Double-A Trenton, batting .277/.363/.504 over 135 plate appearances this season. The move suggests the 20-year-old could make his big-league debut in the not-too-distant future, meaning that the Yankees could perhaps continue to see relatively quick returns on the trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to Chicago for Torres, Adam Warren, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. (Warren, of course, is currently in the midst of a strong season in the Yankees’ bullpen.) Torres ranks second on MLB.com’s list of the game’s top 100 prospects, topped only by another recently traded player, White Sox infielder Yoan Moncada.
  • The Padres are doing “exactly what they should be doing,” Shaikin writes. The Padres are losing games (their current .348 winning percentage is worst in the Majors), but they’re also piling up prospects through Latin American signings, the Rule 5 Draft and trades of veterans, and they’re grabbing top draft picks as well, just as the Cubs and Astros did prior to their current runs of success. Interestingly, manager Andy Green says one challenge of leading a rebuilding club is getting his players to focus on getting better while ignoring Internet commentary about their current struggles. “Everybody is on Twitter. Everybody reads everything everybody says,” Green notes. “You’re fighting a cultural battle. You have to create something special inside the house, so guys will guard their minds, guard their focus and show up every day to play. Without a doubt, it’s a challenge, but a challenge I welcome every single day.”
  • Rangers infielder Joey Gallo’s wild season thus far is testing the limits of three-true-outcomes baseball, writes ESPN’s David Schoenfield. The “three true outcomes,” of course, are home runs, walks and strikeouts, and Gallo has piled up big numbers in all three categories, particularly the first and last. In 165 plate appearances this year, he has 13 homers, 21 walks and a ridiculous 65 strikeouts. He’s currently on pace to break Mark Reynolds’ record for whiffs in a season (223), and he could also top Reynolds’ record for most homers in a season with a sub-.200 average (32). Of course, Gallo’s immediate future is up in the air, since Adrian Beltre could soon return from a calf injury. (There’s hope Beltre can begin a rehab assignment next weekend, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently tweeted.) And as Schoenfield notes, Gallo has faded in recent weeks, with a May batting line of just .148/.268/.443.

AL West Notes: A’s, Rangers, Astros

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The Athletics’ promising stable of starters could make right-hander Sonny Gray expendable this year, posits FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link). Major leaguers Kendall Graveman, Jharel Cotton, Sean Manaea and Andrew Triggs all look like viable building blocks, while prospects Grant Holmes and last year’s sixth overall pick, A.J. Puk, are among potential future starters within the organization. Gray endured a nightmarish 2016 and is currently on the mend from a lat strain, so his stock surely isn’t where it was when he performed like an ace from 2013-15. Still, Gray’s fairly young (27), affordable ($3.575MM) and controllable via arbitration through the 2019 campaign. If Oakland does place Gray on the block, it could seek outfield help in return, Rosenthal says.

Here’s more from the AL West:

  • The Rangers aren’t inclined to trade corner infielder/outfielder Joey Gallo, whom they view as an important long-term piece, according to Rosenthal. The powerful Gallo has been strong at third base this year in place of the injured Adrian Beltre, who’s 38 and only signed through next season. Even if Gallo exits the lineup when Beltre returns, the 23-year-old could become an everyday player at first base or in the outfield by next season, Rosenthal notes. At that point, free agents-to-be Mike Napoli and Carlos Gomez might be in other uniforms, thus creating room for Gallo. The former big-time prospect has slashed a productive .235/.350/.529 in 40 PAs this year, and while he’s still striking out too much, his 35 percent K rate is a vast improvement over the unsightly 63.3 percent mark he put up in 30 PAs last season.
  • The Astros faced a scary situation in Oakland on Saturday when shortstop Carlos Correa left early after taking a 96 mph fastball from Frankie Montas to the left hand. Fortunately for the Astros and Correa, X-rays only revealed a contusion. “Good news, obviously,” Correa told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. “I thought it was going to be a lot worse. Obviously, it was a hard-throwing guy and it was a fastball inside. He didn’t give me a chance to get out of the way and I got hit in the hand. Thank God no fracture.” Correa, who’s day-to-day, hopes to return to Houston’s lineup Sunday.
  • Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien has a bone contusion in his right wrist and will undergo an MRI on Monday, tweets Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California. Semien’s wrist has been an issue since late in the spring, adds Stiglich, and that could at least partially explain his early season power outage. After swatting 27 long balls and posting a .197 ISO last season, Semien has gone homer-less and managed a paltry .057 ISO in 46 plate trips this year.
  • Rangers reliever Keone Kela, demoted to Triple-A on March 31 as a disciplinary measure, is a candidate to rejoin Texas’ bullpen next time the team needs help from the minors, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Kela’s never not been an option,” said manager Jeff Banister. “They’ve all been possibilities. It just depends on what you need.” The 23-year-old Kela was excellent as a rookie in 2015, but he took significant steps backward last season and then earned a ticket to Triple-A by showing a lack of effort in a minor league intrasquad game this spring.

Adrian Beltre Diagnosed With New Calf Strain

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April 12: Beltre’s MRI revealed a new calf strain (Grade 1), writes Wilson. The Rangers plan to proceed with caution, and it’s possible that Beltre could be out of action into the month of May, Wilson adds. Evan Grant notes that Beltre is likely to be sidelined at least another two weeks, adding that this is the third separate calf injury that Beltre has incurred since mid-February.

Beltre tells reporters that the new strain in his calf is in a different location than the first one by which he was plagued. Manager Jeff Banister tells reporters that the team isn’t putting any timetable on Beltre’s recovery for now. Notably, Banister also added that there won’t be a platoon at third base in his absence; Gallo will get the opportunity to play regularly (via Wilson): “He has earned the opportunity to play. The qualifier to that is there are going to be days, like everybody else, that’s he’s going to need a day.”

April 11: Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre has suffered a setback in his rehab from a calf injury, Beltre himself told reporters (Twitter links via Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Beltre felt something while running this past Saturday and has already undergone a new MRI to evaluate the issue. “Something isn’t right,” Beltre said (via Grant). “It’s not just tightness.”

[Related: Texas Rangers Depth Chart]

Obviously, that’s an ominous quote from Beltre, who suffered the calf issue late in Spring Training and opened the season on the disabled list. While the team was originally hopeful that the injury wouldn’t last much longer than the 10-day minimum on the new disabled list, today’s news indicates that’s no longer a likely outcome.

Any significant absence for Beltre would be a substantial blow to the Rangers, who already have Andrew Cashner, Jake Diekman, Tyson Ross and Chi Chi Gonzalez on the disabled list. Though Beltre turned 38 a few days ago, he continued to play at an elite level through the 2016 campaign, hitting .300/.358/.521 with 32 homers and excellent glovework at third base last year.

Thus far in 2017, the Rangers have entrusted third base to Joey Gallo in Beltre’s absence. Long one of the top-rated prospects in the game, Gallo’s prodigious power makes him an intriguing and potentially excellent replacement for Beltre, though his struggles in making contact still loom large. The 23-year-old has struck out in 48 percent of his 176 Major League plate appearances, and he whiffed at nearly a 35 percent clip in Triple-A last year. Though Gallo has homered twice through his first 23 plate appearances of the season, he’s also punched out nine times. To this point, he’s hitting .200/.304/.500 in that tiny sample of work.

West Roster Notes: Beltre, Montas, Federowicz

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Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre will begin the season on the DL, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. Beltre turned up with a tight calf on Monday and hasn’t appeared in a Spring Training game since. An MRI that day didn’t turn up anything serious, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. It’s possible, then, that Beltre won’t be out long. Until he returns, slugger Joey Gallo will be first in line for playing time at third base, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Jurickson Profar is another potential option. Here are more quick notes on West rosters.

  • The Athletics have decided to set their roster with eight relievers, with Frankie Montas and Daniel Coulombe both making the cut, as various reporters have tweeted, including Joe Stiglich of NBC Sports California and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The club has sent outfielder Jaff Decker to the minors, leaving the A’s with a three-man bench and Mark Canha as their only backup outfielder. As for Montas, the A’s reportedly still see him as a starter in the long term, but after he missed most of last season due to a rib injury, having him begin the season in the bullpen allows the A’s to limit his innings. The A’s acquired Montas at last year’s August 1 trade deadline along with two more interesting young hurlers (Jharel Cotton and Grant Holmes) for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick.
  • Catcher Tim Federowicz doesn’t plan to opt out of his minor-league deal with the Giants unless he receives a big-league contract, Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group tweets. Federowicz has received interest from other clubs, but no big-league offers. The 29-year-old Federowicz played briefly over parts of four seasons with the Dodgers, then missed much of the 2015 season to a knee injury after heading to San Diego in the Matt Kemp/Yasmani Grandal trade. He briefly appeared in the big leagues with the Cubs last year.

AL Notes: Rangers, Astros, Red Sox, Tigers

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So far during their brief major league careers, Jurickson Profar and Joey Gallo have not lived up to the hype they received as prospects, and Rangers general manager Jon Daniels doesn’t believe the organization has put either player in proper position to succeed. “Don’t hold it against these players,” Daniels told Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. “That’s on us. We promoted them aggressively because they were advanced in a lot of ways, and when you get to Triple-A at age 19 or 20 years old and reach the big leagues at 20 or 21, that’s unusual. The guys that hit and perform immediately are on the fast track to the Hall of Fame discussion.” Considering they’re only entering their age-24 seasons, there’s certainly still time for Profar and Gallo to establish themselves in the infield or outfield. Texas, for its part, remain bullish on the pair. “The talent and the instincts haven’t gone anywhere,” Daniels noted. With their farm system having thinned out recently and several of their top players on the wrong side of 30, the Rangers have a lot riding on the development of Profar and Gallo, posits Crasnick.

More from the AL:

  • The Astros’ success this year figures to largely hinge on the bounce-back abilities of their top starters, 2015 Cy Young-winning southpaw Dallas Keuchel and right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., who endured injury-shortened campaigns last season. Keuchel, who hasn’t started since Aug. 27 on account of shoulder inflammation, could be ready for game action during the upcoming week, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Thanks to elbow problems, McCullers’ latest start came Aug. 2, though he’s also on the right track now. The 23-year-old threw 43 pitches in live batting practice Saturday and will make his Grapefruit League debut Thursday.
  • Red Sox skipper John Farrell indicated Sunday that reliever Fernando Abad will put himself in a less-than-ideal position by leaving the team to pitch for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, per Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com. “You love the fact that his country looks upon him as a guy to contribute for the WBC,” said Farrell. “He’s pitched four times; there’s been early-camp mixed results, which are not uncommon. But in those positions of competing for a spot, you’d like to think that a guy’s going to be here to make that mark here. He’s aware of his status on the roster competing for a spot. When he returns, it’s constant evaluating that’s going on.” Abad’s battling for a spot on the team with fellow left-hander Robby Scott, whom Farrell complimented Sunday, and his shaky spring has come on the heels of a disappointing showing with Boston in 2016. After the Red Sox acquired Abad from the Twins at the trade deadline, he allowed nine earned runs on 13 hits and eight walks in 12 2/3 innings. It’s worth noting that Abad’s $2MM salary for 2017 won’t become fully guaranteed until Opening Day, so his place in the organization could be in jeopardy.
  • Another Red Sox reliever, offseason acquisition Tyler Thornburg, also hasn’t enjoyed a great spring thus far, as John Tomase of WEEI writes. Having yielded nine earned runs on seven hits in 1 1/3 frames, the righty will stay away from game action for the next few days as he attempts to fix his mechanics. “It’s been more timing in his delivery,” Farrell observed. “He’s out of sync right now. His body is drifting to the plate too quick, you see a number of pitches left up of the strike zone up to his arm-side. To see him hit a guy the other day with a changeup, that just says his timing right now needs a lot of work.”  Boston sent three players to Milwaukee for Thornburg, who was among the game’s premier relievers last year.
  • The elbow MRI that Tigers reliever Adam Ravenelle underwent after leaving the team’s game Saturday didn’t show any structural damage, according to manager Brad Ausmus (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). “He’ll get a second opinion to be safe, but they don’t think it’s anything major. I’m sure he feels better about it, more than anyone else, having been through surgery already,” said Ausmus, referring to the ulnar nerve procedure Ravenelle underwent in 2012. Baseball America ranks the 24-year-old as Detroit’s No. 8 prospect.

AL Notes: Napoli, Wieters, Lowrie, Rasmus

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The Rangers’ interest in first baseman Mike Napoli is real, but the pursuit hasn’t exactly been all-out, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes. While there’s certainly a financial component to the current standoff, Wilson argues that the team’s mix of alternatives at first base and DH may also be an independent factor. It’s time the club finds out whether Ryan Rua, Jurickson Profar, and Joey Gallo can handle regular MLB roles, he suggests, and that may be holding the Rangers back from pushing to land Napoli.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • While it seems as if the door is all but shut on a return of Matt Wieters to the Orioles, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com wonders whether Baltimore ought to reconsider. If the price has fallen as far as it seems, Connolly reasons, Wieters would combine with Welington Castillo to form a strong backstop duo. Both could also spend some time at DH, perhaps along with a variety of other players that could rotate through that slot.
  • It seems that the Athletics are set to utilize Jed Lowrie as their regular option at second, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter. Manager Bob Melvin says it’s Lowrie’s job so long as he’s healthy. Oakland has received positive indications on Lowrie’s recovery from foot surgery. The 32-year-old will also be looking to bounce back from a tepid year at the plate.
  • The Rays haven’t yet announced the signing of outfielder Colby Rasmus, but that’s not due to any issues with his physical, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). It’s not immediately clear what the holdup is, though it could simply be that the team is waiting to sort out a roster move before making it official.

Agency Changes: Jackson, K-Rod, Gallo

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A few notable agency changes from around the game that have been reported in recent days…

  • Free agent outfielder Austin Jackson is now a client of Octagon, reports Tommy Stokke of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). After a pair of very nice seasons at the plate in 2012-13, Jackson’s bat has taken a significant step back, and while the resulting .260/.311/.361 batting line would cut it if he were still a premium defensive center fielder, metrics have soured on his outfield work along the way as well. Jackson also seems to have slowed down quite a bit, as the former 20-steal threat swiped just two bases in three attempts in 54 games with the White Sox last year before suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee that ended his season. Despite his veteran status, though, Jackson is still just 29 years old, so he’s certainly young enough for a career revival despite the lackluster play in recent years.
  • Tigers closer Francisco Rodriguez is now represented by agents Rick Thurman and Cesar Suarez of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, per FanRag’s Robert Murray (also on Twitter). Rodriguez, the active saves leader, won’t see his current offseason impacted in the way that Jackson will by the switch, but he’s just a year removed from free agency after Detroit exercised his $6MM club option back in October. While “K-Rod” no longer boasts the mid-90s heater he did in his younger days, the 34-year-old (35 next week) has still delivered quality results over the past four seasons, turning in a 2.82 ERA with 9.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 230 innings. And while his K/9 rate dropped to a solid-but-career-low 8.0 in 2016, he also registered a career-best 54.7 percent ground-ball rate in 2016.
  • FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Rangers prospect Joey Gallo is now represented by agent Scott Boras. Gallo has yet to establish himself in the Majors and has continued to post alarming strikeout totals to go along with his enormous power, but it should also be stressed that he he also only just turned 23 in mid-November. Gallo has received 80 grades on his power in scouting reports in recent years but will need to improve his contact skills to better tap into that ability, as he whiffed in nearly 35 percent of his plate appearances last year in Triple-A. Still, given his youth, there’s time for some improvement in that area, as even in his second tour through Triple-A this past year, he was more than four years younger than his average opponent. Third base no longer looks like a potential long-term home for Gallo in Texas due to the two-year extension signed by fellow Boras client Adrian Beltre, but the slugger could land across the diamond at first base and also see some time at DH in the next couple of years.

All of the changes reported here can be seen in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation information on more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any errors or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Rangers Prefer To Have Joey Gallo Start 2017 In Minors

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The Rangers’ plans for first base in 2017 aren’t entirely clear, but it appears Joey Gallo does not top their list of potential starters at the position, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News notes. “We think Joey is going to be a very good player in this league, but when is still too early to say,” says GM Jon Daniels. “Ideally, he’d probably get a little more time, unless there is a big jump like Ryan Rua took last year.” Daniels cites Jurickson Profar and Rua as candidates for playing time at first.

Incumbent first baseman Mitch Moreland is a free agent this winter, and Gallo is a talented minor league slugger with a long history of hitting for incredible power — he’s hit 152 home runs, many of the light-tower variety, in parts of five minor league seasons. He’s a third baseman by trade, but he played 32 games at first base in for Triple-A Round Rock last season and would appear to be an obvious candidate to take over the position now that there’s a vacancy. The Rangers could also have playing time available at DH, depending on how this offseason shakes out.

Gallo also has obvious weaknesses, however. He struck out in nearly 35% of his plate appearances last year at Round Rock, and has whiffed a ridiculous 76 times in 153 plate appearances in the big leagues. He would likely have a hard time posting batting averages above the Mendoza Line without improvements in that category, and the Rangers might feel Round Rock is the best place to address his deficiencies. Gallo went to Venezuela this offseason to work on his game in winter ball, but has been sidelined by a hamstring injury.

West Notes: Claire, Dodgers, Gallo, Felix, Marlette

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MLBTR offers its best wishes to former Dodgers GM Fred Claire, who is battling skin cancer that developed on his lip after a life in the sun at baseball diamonds. He spoke with JP Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group about his challenge and many fortunes in life, and it’s well worth a read. Claire has generously discussed his lengthy tenure with the Dodgers previously with MLBTR’s Zach Links. MLBTR wishes him our very best.

Here are a few notes from the western divisions:

  • Current Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently addressed the team’s 2016 campaign, as Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported. Los Angeles faces decisions on several positions heading into the offseason with a variety of notable free agents, including closer Kenley Jansen, third baseman Justin Turner, starter Rich Hill, and infielder Chase Utley. “We have a lot of talented players who are free agents, and I expect we’ll have ongoing dialogue with every one of them,” said Friedman. “There are so many ways the off-season could play out. It’s so hard to try to corral it at this point.”
  • Power-hitting Rangers prospect Joey Gallo suffered a hamstring injury in his third game of action in the Venezuelan Winter League, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. He may need to head back stateside to have the muscle assessed, and it seems that it could well interrupt his time with the Navegantes del Magallanes. There’s no reason to think it’ll impact Gallo’s availability in the spring, certainly, but the hope had been that he would use the winter ball stint to develop at the plate while also providing the team an opportunity to assess his readiness to play a larger role at the major league level in 2017.
  • This offseason is a critical one for Mariners righty Felix Hernandez, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times writes. Once one of the game’s most dominating pitchers, the 30-year-old has exhibited a variety of worrying signs of late. By virtually any measure, Hernandez faded last year; though his 3.82 ERA was still plenty useful, earned-run estimators viewed 2016 as his worst season as a professional. Now, says Divish, King Felix will need to figure out a way to succeed despite waning velocity and wavering command. With $79MM owed to Hernandez over the next three years, Seattle has plenty riding on his ability to return to something approaching his prior form.
  • The Mariners face a decision on catcher Tyler Marlette, who could be a Rule 5 draft candidate if he’s not added to the team’s 40-man roster, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes. Marlette, 23, is hitting well in the Arizona Fall League, continuing to make a case for the team to trust him with a valuable roster placement. He performed well at the High-A level, too, slashing .273/.335/.472 over 358 plate appearances before earning a promotion to Double-A. As Baseball America’s staff explains, Marlette needs his bat to carry him, as he’s considered a marginal defender.

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