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Walker Buehler To Begin Rehab Assignment

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Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, with Alden González of ESPN among those to relay word from manager Dave Roberts. The righty will make at least three rehab appearances before rejoining the big league club, the first of which will be around one or two innings.

Buehler, 29, is a potential difference-maker down the stretch for the Dodgers, both because of his previous levels of excellence and the challenges the club has faced in the rotation this year. From Buehler’s debut in 2017 through 12 starts last year, he owns a career earned run average of 3.02 in 638 1/3 innings. He struck out 27% of batters faced in that time while walking just 6.3% and keeping the ball on the ground at a 45.4% rate.

Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in August of last year, putting him on the shelf for the remainder of that campaign. It also was fair to wonder if he would be able to return at any point in 2023, given that the recovery period from that procedure usually pushes towards the vicinity of 14 months. However, he has said this year that he would target a return in September, which seems to still be on the table.

Roberts said Buehler returning as a reliever is not an option, so it seems the plan is for him to return as a starter, though he might not have enough time to be fully ramped up at first. His rehab will start with one to two innings, as mentioned, presumably building his pitch count gradually over a few more outings. He could then return to the big leagues in mid to late September, though perhaps still requiring some kind of bulk pitcher to come in behind him.

Even with some limitations, the Dodgers would surely be thrilled with whatever Buehler can provide. Their rotation has lost both Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin to season-ending surgeries, while Michael Grove is also on the injured list. They acquired Lance Lynn at the deadline and tried to add Eduardo Rodriguez as well, though he used his no-trade clause to block the deal and stay with the Tigers.

They currently have Lynn, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías and Bobby Miller in four spots, with Ryan Yarbrough taking on bulk innings out of the bullpen. Younger pitchers like Emmet Sheehan, Ryan Pepiot and Gavin Stone are on the 40-man and have been bouncing on and off the active roster as needed.

The club is a lock to make the playoffs, as they have a 83-50 record and a 13.5-game lead in the National League West. That puts them nine games ahead of the Central-leading Brewers, making a first-round bye also a strong possibility. That should give them some flexibility with the remainder of their schedule to get a look at Buehler, who could jump into the postseason rotation if all goes according to plan in the next few weeks. Whether he’s still limited to short outings or has been fully stretched out by that point will be determined in the weeks to come. In 79 2/3 postseason innings for his career, he has a 2.94 ERA.

Returning before season’s end would also be good for Buehler personally. He is set to reach free agency after 2024, meaning he would surely love to finish this year strong before going into an important platform season.

Dodgers Likely To Select Kolten Wong

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The Dodgers are planning to select veteran second baseman Kolten Wong onto the big league roster tomorrow, reports J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register. He’ll take one of the expanded active roster spots. To fill the other role, Los Angeles will recall righty Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A (as first reported by Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 in Houston).

Wong joined the organization on a minor league pact a couple weeks ago. He didn’t spend much time in Triple-A. Wong played in just three games, collecting seven hits and a walk in 14 trips to the plate.

Before joining L.A., the veteran infielder had been struggling through the worst season of his career. Wong hit only .165/.241/.227 over 67 games with the Mariners. He struck out at a personal-high 21.3% clip and made hard contact on only around a quarter of batted balls — well below the 36% MLB average.

That offensive output would’ve been untenable even if Wong were continuing to defend at an elite level. Yet the two-time Gold Glove winner received slightly below-average grades from metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average over 513 1/3 innings. It was his second straight season with middling marks for his glovework, as Wong also played below his established level during his final year with Milwaukee.

While Wong’s glove has slipped as he’s gotten into his 30s, he was a productive hitter as recently as a year ago. The lefty-swinging infielder put up a .251/.339/.430 slash with 15 homers and 17 steals in 497 trips to the dish for the Brew Crew. The Dodgers will hope for something more closely approximating that form than his early-season work in Seattle.

Mookie Betts has played second base for the Dodgers lately. Wong can sometimes factor in when there’s a need for Betts to move back to the outfield. The Dodgers have Amed Rosario, Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor as middle infield options off the bench, though that entire group hits from the right side.

There’s no financial risk for L.A. in bringing Wong up. The Mariners are on the hook for virtually all of his $10MM salary. The Dodgers will pay him just the prorated portion of the $720K league minimum for whatever time he spends on the MLB roster. He’ll be a free agent at year’s end.

While there’s no need for an active roster move, Los Angeles will need to make a corresponding 40-man transaction when Wong is officially promoted. The club filled the 40-man this afternoon by reinstating Shelby Miller from the 60-day injured list. The veteran righty has been out since late June because of a nerve issue in his neck. Miller has turned in 30 innings of 2.40 ERA ball out of Dave Roberts’ bullpen.

Dodgers Designate Tyson Miller For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced that they have recalled right-hander Ryan Pepiot, with fellow righty Tyson Miller designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Miller is out of minor league options, so a DFA was the only way to remove him from the active roster. Los Angeles’ 40-man count drops to 39.

Miller just rejoined the Dodgers via a waiver claim over the weekend. It was his second stint with L.A., as he’d also spent a few weeks at Chavez Revine in the midsummer. The Dodgers initially acquired Miller from the Brewers in a July trade. They waived him a few weeks thereafter and lost him to the Mets. Los Angeles brought him back on a waiver claim out of New York a few days ago.

Between the two stints, Miller has pitched only twice as a Dodger — once apiece in each stay. He has logged 15 1/3 innings through 10 outings this season overall, allowing eight runs with a 10:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Miller has pitched in parts of three MLB campaigns with five different organizations and owns a 6.97 ERA in 31 frames.

The 28-year-old has also had mixed results at the Triple-A level, where he carries a 4.77 ERA in 230 1/3 innings. Miller has fanned over a quarter of opponents at the top minor league stop but has walked just over 10% of batters faced. Despite the inconsistency, he’s continued to find interest on the waiver wire in recent months.

He’ll land back on waivers in the next couple days. Miller has cleared once before, so he’d have the right to become a free agent if he’s outrighted again.

Dodgers, Tucker Barnhart Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent catcher Tucker Barnhart, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Ballengee Group client was released by the Cubs last week.

Barnhart, 32, signed a two-year, $6.5MM deal with the Cubs over the winter. The second season of that contract is a player option, though that’s a moot point for the Dodgers, who are inking him to a new minor league deal. The Cubs will remain on the hook for the rest of Barnhart’s salary both this year and next — minus the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on a big league roster with the Dodgers or another team.

In 44 games with Chicago, Barnhart tallied 123 plate appearances but mustered only a .202/.285/.257 batting line with a 9.8% walk rate and 32.1% strikeout rate. It was Barnhart’s second straight year with all of his rate stats clocking in below .300, as he batted .221/.287/.267 in 308 trips to the plate with the Tigers last season.

Perhaps the Cubs felt Barnhart had a good chance to rebound to his 2015-21 levels of production (.249/.326/.375), but that clearly didn’t happen during his limited time at Wrigley Field. They were likely drawn to his longstanding status as a highly regarded defender as well, but Barnhart has taken some steps back in that regard this year. While he continues to grade as a quality framer, this season’s 19% caught-stealing rate is a career-low. Statcast also pegged Barnhart as the best in the sport at blocking pitches in the dirt from 2018-22, but he’s graded out below the league average in that capacity in 2023. The Cubs turned to 24-year-old Miguel Amaya to team with Yan Gomes behind the plate, and their longtime catching prospect has delivered a .235/.363/.392 slash in 125 plate appearances since essentially replacing Barnhart.

The Dodgers have one of baseball’s best all-around catchers, Will Smith, and have deployed veteran Austin Barnes in a backup capacity since 2015. Barnes, however, is sitting on a career-worst .165/.235/.209 output at the plate this year. He’s been one of the least-effective hitters in the game over his 154 plate appearances, and opponents have gone 56-for-62 against him in stolen base attempts.

The signing of Barnhart doesn’t necessarily jeopardize Barnes’ spot on the roster, but it does give Los Angeles a veteran option if the team wishes to carry three catchers or eventually make a switch. Barnhart’s numbers this year aren’t much to look at, but they’re a bit better than those of Barnes. And prior to this addition, the Dodgers weren’t exactly deep in seasoned options should an injury occur. Journeymen Patrick Mazeika and David Freitas are both on the roster in Triple-A, but neither has much big league time. Top prospect Diego Cartaya is highly touted, but he’s struggled in his first season at the Double-A level and wasn’t likely to be an option, should a need arise. For now, Barnhart will presumably head to Triple-A Oklahoma City, but it’s possible he’ll surface back in the big leagues at some point next month — particularly with rosters set to expand to 28 players on Friday.

Tony Gonsolin To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Dodgers announced that Tony Gonsolin will undergo Tommy John surgery. The procedure will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Friday.

Gonsolin was already known to be out for the remainder of the 2023 season. The club had announced his injury as forearm inflammation when first placing him on the IL last week. They transferred him to the 60-day IL yesterday to close the book on this year.

Now, it seems unlikely he’ll be a factor again until 2025. A Tommy John procedure typically comes with a recovery time pushing or exceeding 14 months. Perhaps he’d be able to make a return late next season, but the safer bet is that he’ll spend the entire ’24 campaign on the 60-day injured list.

Arm injuries have been an unfortunately recurring theme for Gonsolin during his five-year big league career. He lost a couple months early in 2021 with shoulder inflammation. He posted a 3.23 ERA in 15 starts that year and was healthy for the first part of 2022. Gonsolin turned in an All-Star first half and worked to a sparkling 2.14 ERA through 130 1/3 innings. A forearm strain sent him to the IL in late August.

Gonsolin returned at the end of September and made a start in L.A.’s playoff series loss to the Padres. His 2023 debut was delayed by an unrelated ankle sprain, though he returned in late April. The 29-year-old worked 103 innings across 20 outings, struggling to his first below-average season. He allowed just under five earned runs per nine while striking hitters out at a career-low 18.9% clip while his average fastball speed dipped from 93.1 MPH to 92.4 MPH. Things spiraled from late June onward, as Gonsolin allowed four-plus runs in eight of his 11 outings before being placed on the IL.

The Dodgers have now lost a pair of their expected top five starters to forearm surgeries. Dustin May underwent a flexor tendon procedure in early July. The Dodgers indicated May could be back midway through the ’24 season.

Los Angeles was certain to address their rotation next offseason even if May and Gonsolin had been healthy. Clayton Kershaw is an impending free agent, and while the Dodgers would surely have interest in re-signing him, the three-time Cy Young winner will first need to decide whether he wants to suit up for a 17th season. Julio Urías will be one of the top starters in next winter’s free agent class, while the Dodgers will have to make a net $17MM decision on an option for Lance Lynn.

The Dodgers could welcome Walker Buehler back in short stints next month and transition him back to the rotation for ’24. Rookie Bobby Miller has pitched well enough to stake a claim to a spot. That leaves as many as three jobs still to be sorted out between free agency, trade and some combination of Ryan Pepiot, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Michael Grove and perhaps a prospect like Nick Frasso or Landon Knack. The pitching pipeline is strong enough they won’t be short on options, but they’ll obviously need to fortify the starting staff with additional certainty.

Gonsolin signed a two-year deal to cover his first couple arbitration seasons in January. He’s guaranteed a $3.4MM base salary for next year. That deal contained up to $3MM in start-based incentives which he won’t be able to trigger even if he makes a late-season return. Even beyond the lengthy rehab process, the absence will be fairly costly for the right-hander. He’ll remain eligible for arbitration through the 2026 campaign.

Pat Corrales Passes Away

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Former big league player, manager and coach Pat Corrales has passed away, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Corrales was 82 years old.

Born in Los Angeles in 1941, Patrick Corrales attended Fresno High School before signing with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1959. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and made his major league debut in 1964, though only got into two games that year. He would carve out a semi-regular role as a backup catcher in the seasons to come, bouncing to the Cardinals, Reds and Padres.

From 1964 to 1973, he got into 300 games and made 858 plate appearances. He had a batting average of .216 in that time, getting 166 hits, including 28 doubles, three triples and four home runs. He scored 63 runs, drove in 54 and stole one base. The 1970 Reds won the National League West and then defeated the Pirates in the NLCS to advance to the World Series, though they were then defeated by the Orioles. With the O’s up 3-1 in the series and 9-3 in the fifth game, Corrales was sent up to pinch hit for Hal McRae with two outs in the ninth. Corrales grounded out to finish the series and the season, the only postseason plate appearance of his career. (YouTube link via the Orioles.)

After his playing career ended, Corrales shifted into a managerial role, starring with the Rangers in the late ’70s before serving as skipper for Philadelphia and Cleveland. As a manager, he had a record of 572-634 over parts of nine different seasons. His last season as a manager was 1987, but he went on to spend many years as a bench coach, starting with the Yankees. He served in that role for Atlanta for nine years, including the club that won the 1995 World Series. He also served as a bench coach for the Nationals before being hired by the Dodgers as a special assistant to the general manager in 2012.

We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Boras On Bellinger’s Bounceback Season

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Cody Bellinger’s 2023 rebound season with the Cubs has positioned him as one of the top players set to hit the free agent market this offseason. The 28-year-old landed second on MLBTR’s latest update to our Free Agent Power Rankings, and it’s all but a foregone conclusion that he’ll hit the market looking to secure a massive payday this offseason. If there was any doubt about that possibility, Bellinger’s agent, Scott Boras, removed it when discussing his client’s resurgence with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Interestingly, Boras called out the Dodgers organization for their handling of Bellinger when he wasn’t at full health.

“He was hurt, plain and simple,” Boras tells Nightengale of Bellinger’s 2021-22 seasons, when he batted a combined .193/.256/.355 in 900 plate appearances. “He has surgery, and the Dodgers asked him to play with a 35% strength deficiency, and then with COVID, he was deprived of the expert medical treatment. He didn’t have the shoulder strength. You don’t just go from a .900 OPS to a .500 OPS without understanding the impact of an injury.”

Bellinger famously injured his shoulder while celebrating a home run during the 2020 postseason. After swatting a go-ahead long ball in Game 7 of the NLCS, Bellinger and teammate Enrique Hernandez leapt and bashed their forearms together, which wound up dislocating Bellinger’s shoulder. He quickly had the shoulder popped back into its socket and continued to play through the World Series, but Bellinger underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason and didn’t look the same during 2021-22. He also dealt with a hairline fracture of his left fibula in April 2021 and later that season suffered a fractured rib when colliding with teammate Gavin Lux on a fly ball.

Fans tend to bristle at just about any public-facing comments from Boras, but in this case, injuries have long stood as an obvious and likely factor to Bellinger’s decline. The question surrounding his drop-off at the plate wasn’t so much one of whether the injuries were a factor, but rather one of whether he’d ever right the ship after struggling through a litany of injuries in under one year’s time.

The 2023 season in Chicago has rather emphatically answered those questions. Bellinger is hitting .321/.368/.546 with 20 home runs, 23 doubles, a triple and 18 steals (in 22 tries). He’s played both center field and first base for the Cubs, drawing above-average marks at each spot, and perhaps most critically has dramatically reduced his strikeout rate from 2021-22’s rate of 27.1% to a career-low 15%.

Bellinger isn’t walking nearly as often as he used to (7.2% compared to his 14.4% peak in 2019), and Statcast shows that he’s not hitting the ball nearly as hard as he did during his 2019 MVP campaign either. That season saw Bellinger average 91.1 mph off the bat with an overall 45.6% hard-hit rate; this year he’s at 87.3 mph and 30%, respectively. The drop in quality of contact is a potential red flag, but the results are undeniably impressive. When Bellinger does make hard contact, he’s managed to make the most of it.

It all sets the stage for a lucrative payday this winter, when the free-agent market will be largely devoid of productive, prime-aged hitters. In typical quotable fashion, Boras quipped that “demand is often created by rarity,” calling Bellinger a “five-tool player” and Gold Glove-caliber defender at multiple positions before adding that “…the demand for that is very, very high.” Bellinger said all the right things free agents typically espouse, about his desire to remain with the Cubs and his affinity for the stadium, fans and culture.

Nightengale also spoke with teammates Dansby Swanson and Michael Fulmer, manager David Ross and bench coach Andy Green, all of whom raved about Bellinger’s importance to the club and his remarkable season overall. The exact asking price on Bellinger won’t be clear until the offseason begins in earnest, but it’s easy to envision Boras & Co. seeking a long-term deal worth more than the hefty sums secured for fellow clients Brandon Nimmo (eight years, $162MM) and Kris Bryant (seven years, $182MM). Both began their respective contracts in their age-30 seasons; Bellinger won’t turn 29 until the All-Star break next season.

Latest On Walker Buehler, Joe Kelly, Yency Almonte

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided a host of injury updates this afternoon regarding various relief options for the club as LA hurtles toward their eleventh consecutive playoff appearance, as relayed by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. While right-hander Tony Gonsolin will not be an option for the club down the stretch this year, Roberts provided updates on a pair of relievers who could still impact the club in 2023: right-handers Joe Kelly and Yency Almonte.

Kelly threw a bullpen session recently but is still struggling with pain in his elbow, per Roberts. The veteran righty, who threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings with the Dodgers after joining the club at the trade deadline alongside Lance Lynn, went on the injured list earlier this month with elbow inflammation. According to Roberts, Kelly is expected to return in time for the postseason but there is “a chance he’s not gonna be 100%” when he does. Almonte, meanwhile, has a clearer timeline, with Roberts indicating that the 29 year old is two to three weeks from a return from his knee injury.

Most interesting for Dodgers fans will surely be Roberts’ comments on right-hander Walker Buehler, who’s aiming to return from Tommy John surgery before the 2023 season comes to a close. Buehler hasn’t started a rehab assignment, but Plunkett relays that Roberts still believes Buehler’s long-stated goal of returning to the big league mound for games in September is still on the table, with the manager indicating that the club is planning on Buehler to return to the majors toward the middle of the month. While Roberts notes that Buehler’s stuff is in good shape, his command “hasn’t been good” and is something “he’ll have to work through” on his coming rehab assignment.

Healthy returns to the mound from Kelly, Almonte, and particularly Buehler would substantially deepen the club’s bullpen ahead of the postseason. While the Dodgers have been nothing short of dominant of late with just four losses in August, the club’s bullpen is a potential weak point, ranking roughly middle-of-the-pack in the majors with a 3.83 ERA and having been leaned on for the more innings than any NL bullpen besides those in Cincinnati and San Francisco.

Dodgers Claim Tyson Miller, Move Tony Gonsolin To 60-Day IL

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The Dodgers announced that they have claimed right-hander Tyson Miller off waivers from the Mets.  To create roster space, Tony Gonsolin was moved to the 60-day injured list, officially ending Gonsolin’s season.

Gonsolin was placed on the 15-day IL on August 19 due to right forearm inflammation, and since manager Dave Roberts said at the time that Gonsolin probably wouldn’t pitch again in 2023, the shift to the 60-day IL isn’t a surprise by any means.  The exact nature of Gonsolin’s injury isn’t quite known, and Roberts today told the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett and other reporters that the right-hander had undergone an MRI.  Some type of surgical procedure is being considered, and if Gonsolin did get this surgery, it would impact when he might able to return to the mound in 2024.

The possibility of a longer-term injury is obviously an unfortunate setback for Gonsolin, who has already struggled through a difficult 2023 season that included a sprained ankle in Spring Training and some recurring elbow pain that led to his placement on the IL.  Gonsolin was an All-Star in 2022 but clearly wasn’t himself this year, finishing with a 4.98 ERA over 103 innings.

The Dodgers are in first place in the NL West despite a storm of pitching injuries this season, and the possibility of Gonsolin now missing at least some time next year creates another wrinkle in their 2024 plans.  Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw will be free agents, Lance Lynn could be a free agent if L.A. doesn’t exercise an $18MM club option on his services, and Dustin May will be out until midseason after undergoing flexor tendon surgery this past July.  That leaves Walker Buehler (who aims to be back from Tommy John surgery before this season is over) and a host of youngsters like Ryan Pepiot, Gavin Stone, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, and Michael Grove all in the mix for rotation jobs.  Los Angeles certainly isn’t going into a season with such an unproven set of pitchers, so adding some front-of-the-rotation experience will be a key part of the Dodgers’ winter business.

Miller is back with the Dodgers less than a month after he was claimed away by New York off waivers.  Los Angeles previously acquired Miller from the Brewers in July after Milwaukee designated the righty for assignment, so it has quite a whirlwind of organizational change for the 28-year-old in less than two months’ time.

Amidst all these moves, Miller has a 5.40 ERA over 13 1/3 combined innings with the Brewers, Dodgers, and Mets this season.  Now in his third MLB season, Miller previously appeared with the Cubs in 2020 and the Rangers in 2022, with his 2021 campaign split between the Cubs’ and Rangers’ Triple-A affiliates.  Miller has a 4.04 ERA over 594 2/3 career minor league innings, including a 4.11 ERA in 30 2/3 frames of Triple-A work this season.

Dodgers Sign Oscar Mercado To Minor League Contract

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The Dodgers have signed outfielder Oscar Mercado to a minor league deal, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports (via X).  Mercado will report to the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate.

After signing a minors contract with the Cardinals last November, Mercado had his deal selected and he appeared in 20 games for St. Louis before being designated for assignment at the start of July.  Mercado opted for free agency rather than accept an outright assignment, and while he landed pretty quickly with the Padres on another minor league deal, he hit the open market again earlier this week when he exercised an opt-out clause in that contract.

Mercado’s path has now taken him to Los Angeles, where he’ll try to become the latest player to resurrect his career in Dodger blue.  The 28-year-old made his MLB debut in 2019 with Cleveland and finished eighth in Rookie of the Year voting that year, though his star dimmed after a lot of struggles at the plate.  Mercado went back and forth between the Guardians and Phillies on a pair of waiver claims that put him back in Cleveland for the remainder of the 2022 campaign.

Mercado is still a very solid hitter at the minor league level, including a .308/.379/.544 slash line over 283 Triple-A plate appearances this season.  While his career MLB slash line is a much more modest .237/.289/.388 over 973 PA, he has hit left-handed pitching generally better, and Mercado also offers skills beyond the bat.  He can play all three outfield positions in above-average fashion, and he is a quality basestealer, with 25 swipes in 29 attempts at Triple-A this year.

The Dodgers already have plenty of outfield options on their MLB roster, though Mookie Betts has still seen a good deal of second base action and L.A.’s overall hitting depth took a hit when J.D. Martinez was placed on the 10-day injured list.  Mercado might essentially take the minor league depth spot ticketed for Jake Marisnick before Marisnick suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined until mid-September due to a 60-day IL placement.

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