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Quick Hits: Stark, Blue Jays, Atkins, Astros

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The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (subscription required) has delivered his traditional year-end rundown of some of the weirdest stats and moments from the past baseball season.  Stark’s piece covers such oddities as Adrian Beltre’s eight straight seasons with exactly one stolen base, Framber Valdez’s oddly similar first two MLB starts, the Pirates pulling off a 1-3-4-2-5-8-7 double play, and how Juan Soto’s first career homer shattered the space-time continuum.

Some more from around baseball as we kick off 2019…

  • Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins discussed several topics during a conference call with reporters (including Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm), including his team’s recent acquisitions of Matt Shoemaker and Clayton Richard.  Atkins said the two veteran hurlers will likely be used in the rotation if physically able, though he stopped short of fully confirming that usage, noting that “both guys have the potential to start,” and “I do think there could be a scenario where either one of them or potentially both could be used in a (different) role.”  The Jays still have a need for pitching, and Atkins said that the club will continue to look at adding more starters and relievers as the offseason continues, both in free agency and perhaps in trades, as Toronto continues to receive interest from other teams.  “We’ll continue to consider any opportunities to move players potentially off of our roster.  It’s not something we are proactively looking to do, but we do have a great number of players that other teams are interested in,” Atkins said.  He also specifically noted that catcher Russell Martin is “interesting to a lot of teams.”
  • Though the Astros have been linked to several first base/designated hitter types this winter, The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan (subscription required) notes that the team could be in good shape as it stands by having Tyler White get a regular share of DH at-bats.  White posted a .276/.354/.533 slash line over 237 PA last season, and he could join with the Astros’ left-handed outfielders (Michael Brantley, Josh Reddick, or Tony Kemp) in a timeshare at DH to keep everyone fresh.  However, Kaplan also feels Houston will need to move an outfielder before Opening Day to alleviate a playing time crunch, which means that Kemp, Jake Marisnick, or possibly top prospect Kyle Tucker could all be trade candidates.  There were also some rumblings about Reddick on the trade market last month, so it could be that Brantley and George Springer are the only two untouchable outfielders on Houston’s roster.  Kaplan’s mailbag piece is well worth a full read, as it covers several other topics about the Astros’ offseason and potential long-term moves for the club.

Blue Jays’ Managerial Search Enters Second Round

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Since announcing the departure of manager John Gibbons, the Blue Jays have begun their search for a new skipper as they look to return to contention for the first time since back-to-back playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016. The search is now well underway, with the Jays narrowing a broad list of candidates to a smaller group that warrants closer consideration.

As of Oct. 18, the Blue Jays were “believed to be down to five candidates,” per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca. He cited Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays field coordinator Rocco Baldelli, Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde and Giants director of player development David Bell as finalists, though Bell’s name is obviously no longer in play since he’s been hired by the Reds as their new manager. Here’s where things presently stand…

Latest Update – October 23

  • Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo interviewed with the Jays today, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). It’s not clear if it was a second interview and Montoyo had already emerged as one of the reported finalists or if the Jays set up additional interviews after the Reds hired Bell (a reported Jays finalist) away. That brings the Blue Jays to 15 or more candidates interviewed for the managerial vacancy.

Full summation of the Blue Jays’ managerial search below:

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GM Ross Atkins On Blue Jays’ Offseason, Manager Search

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Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins discussed some of his team’s offseason plans in an end-of-season chat with reporters (including the Athletic’s John Lott, and Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith) on Tuesday.  Some of the highlights…

  • The team has been in contact with a few managerial candidates already, though the Jays are still “gathering information” on their list of candidates, Atkins said.  Initial phone interviews with 10 or more candidates will begin within the week, with a final field of around five candidates then selected for in-person interviews with various members of the Jays organization.  The connection between the manager and the franchise as a whole is an important factor, as Atkins describes his ideal hire as possessing an “understanding what it takes for communication to keep not just [a] 25-man roster, but also the 40-man roster, the 200 minor-league players, the 100-plus scouts, the 100-plus coaches and medical staff people pulling in one direction and feeling connected.  That person has to be an organizational leader and spokesperson, not just a leader of the 25-man clubhouse.”
  • Bench coach DeMarlo Hale and Double-A manager John Schneider are two of the in-house candidates, and it seems as if the Blue Jays are leaning towards people with some type of managing or coaching background.  The new Jays manager “will have experience leading,” Atkins said.  “That is something extremely important for us.”  The new manager must also be adept at requesting and interpreting the available analytical information, with Atkins specifying that while the manager (and not the front office) will still handle all in-game decision-making.  Beyond these requirements, the Blue Jays will “cast as big a net as time and bandwidth can handle” in looking for a new manager, Atkins said.
  • The Jays will be open to re-signing Marco Estrada or possibly bringing back J.A. Happ, who was dealt to the Yankees at the trade deadline.  Atkins said that Toronto will first focus on the trade market before looking at free agents, however, and “We’d be looking for complementary pieces, and I think the focus would be slightly more short-term.”  This would seem to count out a pursuit of Happ, who wouldn’t require a long contract (he turns 36 later this month), but his solid performance will likely price him out of the Jays’ range.
  • There will be a focus on adding arms to the organization, with Atkins noting “we need to turn some of our position-player depth into pitching.  That doesn’t mean we won’t trade from our young core or guys that haven’t even gotten to the major leagues.”  Some of the names on the move could be prospects who are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, as the Jays have a 40-man roster crunch forthcoming and not everyone can be protected.  As it is, Atkins expects to lose at least one player in the Rule 5 Draft in December.
  • Beyond pitching, Atkins said Toronto will also prioritize improving the team’s poor defense and baserunning.
  • After Troy Tulowitzki spent the entire 2018 season on the disabled list, Atkins said that the veteran shortstop’s status for 2019 “starts with health.”  When asked if Tulowitzki can still be an everyday player amidst the Jays’ younger infield options, Atkins answered “If Tulo’s healthy and performing at a very high rate, then yes. If he’s healthy and his performance isn’t to the calibre that major-league environments demand, then no.”  Tulowitzki has been adamant about remaining at shortstop, though it remains to be seen if he can handle any position at all given his lengthy injury history over the years; in addition to missing 2018, Tulowitzki averaged just 98 games a season from 2012-17.  Obviously Tulowitzki has virtually no trade value in the wake of his lost year, so the Jays might have to consider releasing him and eating the $38MM still owed to him through 2020.

Blue Jays Notes: Donaldson, Solarte, Atkins, Borucki

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The latest from Toronto…

  • Several teams, including contenders in the American League, contacted the league office in regards to the Josh Donaldson trade “either to express their dismay with the circumstances of the deal or seek clarification on why baseball allowed it,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (subscription required).  The particular issue was Donaldson’s uncertain health status and the timing of his activation from the disabled list as a Blue Jay and his latest DL placement after joining the Indians, without any return to the field in between.  Prior to the deal, teams interested in Donaldson were issued a “buyer beware” warning by the league about his possible injured status, which stemmed from concerns Donaldson himself had about his bothersome calf, which he expressed to the MLBPA (via his agent).  After the union passed these concerns onto the league, Rosenthal reports that MLBPA officials also wondered how the trade was completed.  Donaldson’s worries, however, were alleviated after speaking to the Tribe on August 31, as Cleveland was given permission by the league to speak to the player once the general framework of the trade had been settled.
  • Infielder Yangervis Solarte has been activated from the disabled list, as per the Blue Jays’ PR department’s Twitter feed.  Solarte has missed just under a month due to right oblique injury suffered after an awkward swing.  Solarte has hit .233/.287/.397 over 471 PA in his first season in Toronto, and could be entering his final days with the team — the Jays are deep in young infield options, and may choose to buy out Solarte’s 2019 club option for $750K rather than bring him back at the full $5.5MM price.
  • General manager Ross Atkins is expected to receive a contract extension this winter, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes, as Atkins’ current contract only runs through the 2019 season.  This means that Atkins signed a four-year deal when first hired as Toronto’s GM in the 2015-16 offseason.  The contract length wasn’t reported at the time, and this new deal may also be handled with a modicum of fanfare, as Davidi predicts that an Atkins extension “likely takes place quietly behind the scenes and doesn’t get announced.”  Building off a recent interview with Jays president/CEO Mark Shapiro about the club’s offseason plans, Davidi’s piece also predicts some modest roster targets for the Blue Jays, such as at least one innings-eating veteran starter, and “some value-play additions to the bullpen” in the mold of the Seunghwan Oh and Tyler Clippard signings last winter.
  • In a separate piece from Davidi, he examines how the Blue Jays drafted and signed Ryan Borucki in 2012, an acquisition that may not have happened if Borucki hadn’t suffered a UCL tear while pitching for his high school team that spring.  Despite several injuries that hampered his early development, Borucki has turned into one of the club’s best young arms, and projects to be a member of the 2019 rotation after making his MLB debut this season.

Ross Atkins On Josh Donaldson, Free Agency

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There may not have been any formal extension negotiations between the Blue Jays and Josh Donaldson, but that doesn’t mean the Jays haven’t been exploring the possibility internally. To the contrary, GM Ross Atkins said at a recent PitchTalks event that the Blue Jays have placed their own valuation on Donaldson and suggested that the team has a good idea of how far it’d go in an effort to extend the former AL MVP (subscription link via The Athletic’s John Lott).

“We do have that number,” said Atkins during his presentation. “We have come up with a clear walkaway that we would be willing to commit to him to extend (the contract) for him to remain a Blue Jay probably for the rest of his career.”

Unsurprisingly, Atkins didn’t delve into the specifics of what that number would entail. Donaldson said recently that to his knowledge, the Blue Jays hadn’t engaged his agents at MVP Sports in extension talks, though one can imagine that the team will explore that possibility in the coming weeks once Spring Training gets underway. That’s typically the timeframe for players and clubs to negotiate extensions, though Donaldson could be one of the tougher players to pry away from free agency.

The 32-year-old got off to a slow start in 2017 but finished with an absurd .302/.410/.698 slash and 22 homers over his final 227 plate appearances, and he’s been on the short list of the AL’s best players for the past half decade. While Donaldson will hit the open market at an older age than most premier free agents, he’d still be primed for a massive contract in free agency, assuming a typically excellent year at the plate and in the field.

On a related note, Atkins also addressed the excruciatingly slow free-agent market, noting that teams appear to be less inclined than ever to push past their comfort levels to win the bidding on a player, calling it “good business to walk away and not [exceed] your value.” Atkins also touched on the fact that free agency tends to reward older players, noting that the “aging curve has been potentially overcompensated in the past.” Atkins did note that the Jays value experience (their signing of Curtis Granderson certainly seems to back that up). While other teams throughout the league surely do as well, it does seem as though the dollar amount associated with that value has declined in precipitous fashion.

How highly the Jays value the experience of Donaldson (financially speaking, that is) and how they’ll proceed with him will continue to be a pressing topic in Toronto for the next six months or more. If no long-term pact is worked out this spring, the question will shift from one of signing Donaldson long term to one of whether the Jays should trade the well-rounded slugger this summer.

Should the team finds itself buried in the AL East, that’ll be a fairly easy question, but if not, the Jays could face the unenviable task of balancing the short-term benefit of chasing down a Wild Card spot with the long-term benefit of bolstering their farm system with a franchise-altering trade of their best player. The Jays would have the option of making a qualifying offer to Donaldson and recouping some value in the 2019 draft, of course, but they’d almost certainly be able to top that value on the summer trade market.

GM Ross Atkins On Blue Jays’ Offseason Needs

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Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with reporters (including Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm) today to discuss his team’s season and how the Jays plan to move forward going into the winter.  Some highlights…

  • The Jays will be “open to trades” and “open to any possible way we can make our team better,” Atkins said, stressing the need for added depth and versatility.  The GM reiterated that the Jays aren’t looking to trade from their Major League roster unless they find a deal that improves the big league team.
  • The Blue Jays want to “add one impact arm and one impact position player for sure,” though Atkins wasn’t necessarily sure that the position player would play right field, which is the only clear opening in the lineup.  Teoscar Hernandez has “certainly earned the right” to compete for the everyday right field job in the wake of an impressive September.  The “impact arm” also could be either a starter or a relief pitcher.
  • Lack of team speed “is a clear issue for us,” though one that Atkins admitted is “really hard to [address] in free agency” given that most of the available veterans are generally on the older side and lacking in quickness.
  • Middle infield is an area of concern, as “we can’t rely that we will have an absolutely healthy Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis for the entire year, and we need to build depth around them.”  Injuries limited Tulowitzki and Travis to just 116 games combined last year, and both players have exhibited a lack of durability over the last few seasons.
  • Atkins confirmed that the Jays will not be exercising their end of Jose Bautista’s mutual option for 2018.  (Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi recently reported that Bautista was informed of the team’s decision a few weeks ago.)  It is “very unlikely,” Atkins said, that Bautista will return to the Jays even on a smaller deal in 2018, though the door isn’t closed on the longtime slugger eventually returning to the franchise.  “When he comes back here, he will be celebrated in a very strong way,” Atkins said.
  • No changes are coming to the coaching staff, and there weren’t any strong rumblings about a possible managerial change, Atkins confirmed that John Gibbons would also return to the dugout.  “I feel strongly that he’s a part of our solution, and I love going to work with him every day,” Atkins said about the manager.

AL East Notes: Trumbo, Orioles, Dombrowski, Atkins, Bautista

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The Orioles placed Mark Trumbo on the 10-day DL due to a strain in his right rib cage, and the slugger will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the full extent of the injury.  O’s skipper Buck Showalter told The Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli and other media that he is concerned Trumbo may have suffered an oblique strain, which generally means a DL stint of at least a month.  After hitting 47 homers and posting a 123 wRC+ in 2016, Trumbo has delivered sub-replacement production this season, with -0.5 fWAR thanks to below-average defensive numbers and a .238/.300/.405 slash line and 17 homers through 443 plate appearances.

Here’s some deadline aftermath reaction from around the AL East…

  • The Orioles weren’t deadline sellers nor were they significant buyers, leaving Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com feeling underwhelmed by the team’s midseason deals.  The acquisitions of Jeremy Hellickson and Tim Beckham, in Connolly’s opinion, leave the O’s just treading water instead of firmly making a postseason run or beginning a rebuild.  “They aren’t significantly better. They didn’t keep up with their division rivals. And they didn’t get considerably better for the future,” Connolly writes.
  • The Red Sox looked far and wide for bullpen help, with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski telling reporters (including Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald) that the team considered over 20 right-handed relievers “and a lot of lefties, too.”  Without revealing names, Dombrowski said that the Sox had interest in another relief pitcher who was traded within the last week, but the team that landed this mystery bullpen arm “gave a little more than we were willing to give at that particular time.”  Of course, Boston’s quest for relievers ended in a big way today when the Sox acquired Addison Reed, who will step right into the eighth-inning role to set up closer Craig Kimbrel.  Also of note, Dombrowski said that he didn’t get into any serious talks with other teams about starting pitching.
  • The Blue Jays dealt away Francisco Liriano and Joe Smith today, though GM Ross Atkins told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm) that the team was “pretty close” on roughly 15 potential trades.  Jose Bautista’s name was mentioned in talks, though “Nothing came to fruition where we had to say, is this something you would do or not do?” Atkins said, in regards to Bautista having no-trade protection via his 10-and-5 rights.

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins Discusses Offseason

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Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with the media today and addressed a number of topics, including qualifying offers for the team’s free agents, his club’s offseason needs, Jason Grilli’s club option and much, much more. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith was among the many on hand and relayed a number of highlights from Atkins’ media session (all links to Twitter)…

  • The Blue Jays, as has been widely expected, will issue qualifying offers to both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista barring some form of unforeseen injury popping up between now and the point at which that decision must formally be made. The Jays are “still working” on determining whether they’ll make a QO to Michael Saunders, who enjoyed a massively productive first half of the season before flaming out in the season’s final months. Toronto would, of course, receive a compensatory draft pick for any free agent that rejects the one-year, $17.2MM qualifying offer and signs with a new team. The Jays will “do everything” they can during contract talks with Encarnacion and Bautista in the exclusive five-day window they have with their own free agents following the completion of the World Series. Atkins added that he still feels Bautista can be an effective defensive outfielder.
  • Atkins described right-hander Jason Grilli’s affordable $3MM club option as “as near to a no-brainer” as you’ll find in baseball, per Nicholson-Smith. The soon-to-be-40-year-old Grilli came over to the Jays in a minor swap back on May 31 after struggling with the Braves through the first two months of the season and rebounded tremendously with Toronto. In 42 innings with the Blue Jays, Grilli posted a 3.64 ERA with 12.4 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9. Those numbers would’ve been better had Grilli not served up six runs in his final 1 2/3 innings of the regular season (he had a 2.45 ERA in Toronto prior to that stretch), but he was terrific in the postseason, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings with three punchouts, one hit and no walks.
  • Kevin Pillar had a thumb injury this season but played through the pain, the GM revealed. Surgery is being considered to remedy Pillar’s hand, but even if he goes under the knife he’s expected to be ready for Spring Training. A thumb injury could help to explain Pillar’s power outage over the season’s final couple of months. While he’s never exactly been a slugger, Pillar went homerless over his final 78 games of the season, hitting .270/.311/.333 in that time. Even with the thumb injury, Pillar was very arguably the best defensive player in Major League Baseball this season. His +21 marks in both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating ranked third and second among all players at all positions, with only Adam Eaton of the White Sox topping him in both categories. But, much of Eaton’s defensive work came in right field after being moved out of center partly due to poor defensive ratings there last season.
  • There are no plans to stretch closer Roberto Osuna out to try him as a starter again, so it would seem that the 22-year-old phenom has laid claim to the Toronto closer’s gig for good. Osuna came up as a starter through the minors, of course, but he wound up closing games in 2015 out of necessity and has been one of baseball’s best stoppers since assuming that role. Over the past two years, he has a 2.63 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 in 143 2/3 innings.
  • Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini, on the other hand, could be stretched back out and given a look in the rotation, Atkins said (via Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star). Selected out of the Giants organization, the 26-year-old Biagini was perhaps the best pick of this year’s Rule 5 class, totaling 67 2/3 innings with a 3.06 ERA to go along with 8.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate. Biagini was a starter with in the Giants’ minor league system and could give the Jays some valuable rotation depth if the team elects to go that route.
  • Of course, if Toronto does move Biagini to a starting role, it’ll only further the need for bullpen help. Atkins said the team expects to address that need this winter and is willing to go to three or more years for the “right” free agent reliever, per Nicholson-Smith. The Jays are set to lose Brett Cecil and Joaquin Benoit to free agency this winter.
  • Generally speaking, Atkins said the Jays will look to potentially add “more balance, more platoon advantage and potentially more speed,” via Nicholson-Smith. The Jays feel that the free-agent market suits their needs well (Twitter link), as the team has a good amount of starting depth but needs to add some corner outfield/first base/DH types, which are indeed fairly plentiful this winter.

Blue Jays Notes: Sanchez, Payroll, Front Office

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Here’s the latest from Toronto…

  • The Blue Jays made their latest move to conserve Aaron Sanchez’s innings when they optioned the young righty to Single-A Dunedin today, a move Sanchez and GM Ross Atkins discussed with reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi).  The plan to send Sanchez to Dunedin came up a few weeks ago, and Atkins said it hinged on Sanchez’s agreement.  The right-hander had no issue, noting that “if I’m just going to be sitting here knowing that they’re going to skip my start, why don’t we bring somebody up to help continue to win ballgames.”  The ten-day demotion will cost Sanchez some salary, which Davidi figures the club will make up when renewing Sanchez’s contract for the 2017 season.
  • With so many key players owed raises in 2017 or headed to free agency, Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun opines that Jays ownership should raise payroll into the $165-$170MM range in order to keep the team competitive.  This would represent a sizable increase in spending (the Jays’ Opening Day payroll stood just over $136.7MM, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts) though it’s an increase the club should be able to afford, given that TV ratings and attendance have risen so sharply over the last year.
  • In another piece from Davidi, Atkins discussed the Jays’ changes in the scouting and player development departments from earlier this week.  The club hopes to have a new scouting director and “someone in a similar capacity to” the national crosschecker job in place within the next month, according to Atkins.  Several names from the MLB Scouting Bureau and from the front offices of the Pirates, Indians, Mets and Athletics are reportedly under consideration for the two jobs, according to Davidi.

AL East Notes: Machado, Desmond, Rays, Atkins, Bautista

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Here’s the latest from around the AL East…

  • Manny Machado talked to reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) about several topics in a media session today, including his happiness that Chris Davis, Matt Wieters and Darren O’Day are all still Orioles.  The team’s willingness to spend this offseason “brings out hope” that Machado will also be able to sign a new contract to remain in Baltimore, as he desires.  “They’re trying to keep everybody here.  That’s good for me.  I hope they keep me here for [the] long term,” Machado said.  “But the case is, you can’t really sign everybody.  You can’t bring everybody back.  But it’s just part of the business, people you can bring back, people who you can’t, people who won’t be.  But I think we’re making an effort of bringing everybody back, keeping the same clubhouse, the same core.”
  • It’s “still quite unlikely” that Ian Desmond will sign with the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  Desmond’s list of possible suitors got even thinner yesterday when the White Sox signed Jimmy Rollins to address the shortstop position.  The Rays have had some talks with Desmond, but the sticking point is the Rays’ unwillingness to surrender its first round draft pick (the 13th overall selection) to make the signing, as Desmond is a qualifying offer free agent.
  • In a session with reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) this morning, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins gave no comment on either Jose Bautista’s contract ultimatum or the reportedly off-the-table trade involving Jay Bruce and Michael Saunders.  In regards to Bautista, Atkins said any extension talks between the team and the slugger won’t be made public, as “in relation to the negotiation, out of respect for him, out of respect for the Blue Jays organization, we just can’t get into the specifics of it.”
  • In another piece from Davidi, he characterized the Blue Jays’ decision on Bautista as a bellwether of how the club plans to operate in the near future beyond the 2016 season, in regards to both spending and fielding a contender.
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