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Mets Notes: Harvey, Employee Fund, Matz

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It was on this day in 1972 that the Montreal Expos traded the franchise’s first star, as Rusty Staub was sent to the Mets for a three-player package consisting of Ken Singleton, Mike Jorgensen, and Tim Foli.  All three players ended up being productive regulars during their time in Montreal, so it didn’t turn out to be a bad swap for the Expos, as much as fans missed having “Le Grand Orange” in the lineup.  Montreal’s loss was New York’s gain, as Staub hit .276/.361/.428 over 2263 PA with the Mets from 1972-75 and also delivered a huge performance during the Mets’ playoff run in 1973.  Staub had a 1.096 OPS over 46 postseason plate appearances that year, and quite possibly could have been World Series MVP had New York beaten the Athletics in the seven-game Fall Classic.  Staub ended up playing nine of his 23 seasons in a Mets uniform, returning for a second stint with the franchise from 1981-85.

Some more from Queens….

  • A reunion between Matt Harvey and the Mets doesn’t seem likely, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that the Amazins “weren’t interested” in Harvey over the offseason and he doesn’t believe the club has been in contact with the right-hander.  Given some of the off-the-field controversy that surrounded Harvey during his previous tenure in New York, it probably isn’t a surprise that the Mets have seemingly closed the door on their former All-Star.  Aside from a tryout with the Blue Jays earlier this winter, Harvey hasn’t been publicly linked to any teams since his minor league deal with the Athletics expired at the end of the season.  Harvey has posted a 5.89 ERA over 307 1/3 innings with the Mets, Reds, and Angels since undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery midway through the 2016 season.
  • The Mets announced Friday that a financial aid program had been developed for seasonal game-day staff members.  The $1.2MM fund will be mostly given out in the form of “need-based grants” for staffers who directly work for the Mets, while remaining money will be divided among subcontracted workers (employed by Aramark, Impark, and Alliance) who serve in various roles around the ballpark.
  • Left-hander Steven Matz is also helping COVID-19 relief efforts, announcing (Twitter links) that his TRU32 charity is donating $32K to first responders and hospitals in New York.  The organization’s first donation is going Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, located less than three miles from Citi Field.

Cashman On Health Of Judge, Stanton; Rotation Needs

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Yankees GM Brian Cashman spoke with the media this morning regarding the health uncertainty surrounding star sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. He also disputed recent reporting regarding the team’s efforts to shore up an injury-depleted rotation mix. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch was among those to cover the news (links to Twitter).

First and foremost, it now seems abundantly clear — if it wasn’t already — that the Yanks will go without their twin right-handed power towers for some time to open the season. Cashman didn’t say so expressly regarding Judge, but that’s evident in the fact that he’s still undergoing testing. Judge is said to be “responding well” to the treatment he has received, but his timeline remains uncertain.

As for Stanton, Cashman said plainly that it’s “unrealistic” to expect him to be in the Opening Day lineup. But the top New York baseball ops exec did say he believes the outfielder/DH can make it back to the majors during the month of April. Stanton is rehabbing a calf injury. It doesn’t seem to be a major malady but the team is understandably handling it with care after a 2019 season that was plagued by injuries (for both Stanton and the team).

The hope presumably remains that both of those players will end up being available for most of the coming season. But the Yanks have already endured some major blows to their pitching plans — especially, the loss of Luis Severino for the entire campaign.

The club has given public indication that it’s focused on its internal options. But it stands to reason that the organization will at least look for way to add depth. And there has been some suggestion that the Yankees might attempt to add a rotation piece via trade. MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently examined a few hypothetical possibilities. Just yesterday, we saw reports of interest in Mets lefty Steven Matz.

Cashman squashed any hope of a surprising mid-spring, cross-town Matz swap — or any other near-term trade. “We have not talked to anybody,” the GM said of trade chatter involving the rotation. That obviously doesn’t rule out future conversations, but it seems at a minimum that the Yankees staff won’t feature any prominent new members in the coming days.

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Steven Matz

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Following injuries to Luis Severino and James Paxton, the Yankees have reached out to the Mets to inquire on the availability of left-hander Steven Matz, per Ken Davidoff and Mike Puma of the New York Post. SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that while there’s been contact between the two teams, however, a deal is quite unlikely.

The 28-year-old Matz has started 30 games in each of the past two seasons, pitching to a combined 4.09 ERA with 8.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 1.49 HR/9 and a 48 percent ground-ball rate in 314 1/3 frames. The Mets control him through the 2021 season as an arbitration-eligible player.

A deal between the two sides coming together would indeed face numerous obstacles. The Yankees and Mets generally don’t trade with one another, and the Mets themselves have some question marks among their starting staff. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and Rick Porcello are locks at this point, and there’s been talk of taking a less-conventional approach to the fifth spot, using both Matz and Michael Wacha in nontraditional capacities. After that, the 40-man roster contains Stephen Gonsalves, Walker Lockett, Corey Oswalt and Franklyn Kilome, while veteran righty Erasmo Ramirez is in camp on a non-roster deal. Wacha and Porcello are already in need of their own rebounds, and a trade of Matz followed by an injury elsewhere on the starting staff would leave the Mets with a good bit of uncertainty.

From a financial vantage point, Matz’s $5MM salary for the 2020 season would cost the Yankees more than it appears at first glance. After adding Gerrit Cole to the mix and giving out arbitration raises to the likes of Paxton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gio Urshela, Tommy Kahnle and others, the Yankees find themselves more than $50MM north of the luxury barrier. Because they’re more than $40MM above that $208MM line and would be in luxury-tax territory for a second straight season, the Yankees would owe a 75 percent tax on any additional dollars added to the payroll. In effect, Matz would cost them $8.75MM. It’s not a backbreaking difference, but it’d certainly impact the manner in which the club determines Matz’s value and what he should cost in a theoretical trade.

Perhaps the biggest roadblock, though, is the simple fact that the Mets would covet MLB talent in return for Matz, according to the Post’s reporting. Puma and Davidoff suggest that Miguel Andujar would “likely” intrigue the Mets but that the Yankees wouldn’t be keen on such a swap.

Not long after Severino’s injury was announced, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman downplayed the possibility of making a move. “The winter marketplace this time of year, it doesn’t exist,” he said when asked about the possibility of going outside the organization for help. That’s not a declaration that he wouldn’t make any type of effort, but as the previously laid-out obstacles illustrate, making a deal this time of year (particularly in the case of these two teams) can be problematic.

The Yankees have surely asked about other starters — they’ve also scouted free agent Henderson Alvarez — but inquiring and acquiring are two very different things. There’s still a bit more than three weeks to try to pull something together before Opening Day, but it’s difficult to envision a Matz swap coming to fruition.

Mets Considering Creative Approach To 5th Starter Spot

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The Mets are at least pondering a less-than-standard approach to filling their fifth starter’s spot, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s possible that neither Steven Matz nor Michael Wacha will simply win the job in camp.

[RELATED: Camp Battles: Mets Rotation]

Other organizations have already acted effectively upon the fundamental premise. The Mets would shed typical forms in favor of a flexible arrangement that maximizes the abilities of the players on hand.

It’s certainly an intriguing concept, at least in some of its forms. There are several possibilities, per Sherman: Matz and Wacha could essentially tag in and out of the rotation depending upon matchups. The team might also utilize an opener. While the premise isn’t specifically contemplated in Sherman’s piece, it stands to reason that those two starters could also be utilized in a piggyback arrangement at times.

This all obviously depends upon health. Most contending organizations strive to have more arms available than is needed on paper, since it’s rare that all can be called upon at a given time. In this case, especially, that’s a major factor since both Matz and Wacha have dealt with fairly significant health limitations in recent years.

As Sherman explains, there are other factors to be considered as well. It’s tempting to imagine a game opened by Seth Lugo, carried by multi-inning stints from Matz and/or Wacha, and then closed down by power relievers Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances, Justin Wilson, and Edwin Diaz. But the realities of day-to-day pitching management likely won’t allow such a clean progression on a regular basis. And the fact is, for all their individual and collective upside, every one of those hurlers enters the season with a significant downside scenario.

All of that isn’t to say this concept isn’t worth exploring. To the contrary, this seems like a logical application of shifts we’ve witnessed in recent years. Perhaps some starters shouldn’t be tasked with quite so many innings, while some relievers can handle more. The Mets’ own array of talent does seem to suit an adaptable methodology.

Mixing and matching and generally acting flexibly can have obvious advantages. There’ll also be some potential pitfalls to be navigated. Taken as a whole, the idea only makes the already interesting Mets more fun to watch.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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Entering the day, there were more than 150 players on the clock to exchange arbitration figures with their respective teams prior to a noon ET deadline. As one would expect, there’ll be an utter landslide of arbitration agreements in advance of that deadline. We already ran through some key facts and reminders on the arbitration process earlier this morning for those who are unfamiliar or simply need a refresher on one of MLB’s most complex idiosyncrasies, which will hopefully clear up many questions readers might have.

We’ll track the majority of the National League’s settlements in this post and are maintaining a separate one for American League settlements as well. Note that all projections referenced come courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz:

  • The Rockies have an agreement in place with righty Jon Gray, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (via Twitter). It’s a $5.6MM deal, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
  • Outfielder Tommy Pham has struck a $7.9MM pact with the Padres, who acquired him at the outset of the offseason, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Other Friars striking deals, per an update from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, include Zach Davies ($5.25MM) and Matt Strahm ($1.4MM).
  • The Nationals announced that they’ve avoided arbitration with Trea Turner. It’s a $7.45MM agreement, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (via Twitter), right in range of the $7.5MM projection.
  • The Mets are in agreement with a laundry list of players. Right-handers Marcus Stroman ($12MM) and Noah Syndergaard ($9.7MM) were the top earners, per reports from MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). Both come in close to their projected values of $11.8M and $9.9MM, respectively. The Mets also have a $5.1MM deal with reliever Edwin Diaz, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). He entered the offseason projected at the $7.0MM level but will fall well shy of that. Despite an outstanding overall track record, Diaz’s platform season was a dud and obviously created some risk in a hearing for his side. Outfielder Brandon Nimmo will play for $2.175MM in his first season of arb eligibility, landing well over the $1.7MM that the model projected. Southpaw Steven Matz, meanwhile, lands a $5MM deal, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). That’s $300K shy of his projected amount. Relievers Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo will earn $1.225MM and $2MM, respectively, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter links). Slugger Michael Conforto will earn $8.0MM, per SNY.tv’s Andy Martino (via Twitter), which is notably south of the $9.2MM that we projected. And fellow outfielder Jake Marisnick checks in a just over 10% north of his projection at $3,312,500, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
  • Star reliever Kirby Yates receiveds a $7,062,500 salary from the Padres, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He tops the $6.5MM that MLBTR projected by a solid margin, reflecting just how exceptional he was in 2019.
  • The Marlins will pay recently acquired infielder Jonathan Villar a $8.2MM salary, per MLB.com’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). That’s a far sight shy of the $10.4MM that the MLBTR system projected, perhaps reflecting a more difficult path to the bigger number through recent comparables. The club also had some added leverage here since Villar would likely not fare terribly well on the open market if cut loose at this stage or later. (Unless this is a guaranteed deal, Villar could still be jettisoned, with the club paying just a fraction of the settled amount.) The Fish also have also agreed to terms with lefty Adam Conley (for $1.525MM, per MLB Network Radio’s Craig Mish, via Twitter) and righty Jose Urena (for $3.75MM, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, on Twitter).
  • Righty Vince Velasquez will pitch for $3.6MM this year with the Phillies, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly (via Twitter). Fellow hurler Jose Alvarez will earn $2.95MM, per Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
  • The Rockies have an agreement with lefty Kyle Freeland, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). He’ll earn $2.875MM. Outfielder David Dahl takes home $2.475MM, Heyman adds on Twitter. The former had projected at $2.4MM and the latter at $3.0MM.
  • Pirates hurler Joe Musgrove will receive $2.8MM, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter links). Fellow righty Keone Kela will earn a reported $3.725MM. Both players had projected at $3.4MM, but land well to either side of that number. Infielder Adam Frazier also has a deal at $2.8MM, per Mackey (via Twitter).
  • Righty Anthony DeSclafani will earn $5.9MM from the Reds, according to Robert Murray (via Twitter). He had projected at $5.2MM. Backstop Curt Casali will earn $1.4625MM, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). And reliever Matt Bowman takes down $865K, Murray adds on Twitter.
  • The Dodgers have worked out a non-typical deal with righty Ross Stripling, Heyman tweets. He’ll get an up-front signing bonus of $1.5MM, which he’ll receive in the next week, and then earn $600K for the campaign to come. Stripling had projected to earn $2.3MM on the year.
  • Cardinals righty John Gant will earn $1.3MM after settling with the club. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first tweeted that a deal was in place, while Murray had the number on Twitter. That comes in just under his $1.4MM projection.

Earlier Settlements

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Mets Likely Won’t Trade Syndergaard, Matz Unless “Overwhelmed” By Offer

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While it is becoming increasingly likely that the Mets will be sellers at the deadline, the team won’t be going into a full fire sale.  Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz are two of the names that aren’t likely to be going anywhere before the July 31st deadline, as Mike Puma of the New York Post hears from an industry source that the Mets “would likely have to be overwhelmed by a trade proposal” to deal Syndergaard or Matz.

The Mets’ reluctance to move Syndergaard is well-known, despite the fact that at least three teams (the Brewers, Astros and Padres) have shown interest already, and several more would surely join the bidding if the man they call Thor was actually shopped.  We haven’t heard much about Matz as a trade candidate this summer, and it’s interesting that he is seemingly in the same boat as the more heralded Syndergaard, though New York would have largely the same reasons to want to keep either pitcher.

Matz has a 4.89 ERA, 2.69 K/BB rate, 46.9% grounder rate, and 8.7 K/9 over 81 innings this season.  Despite some pretty decent overall advanced metrics, Matz has been once again undone by problems with the home run ball.  After posting a 1.5 HR/9 in 2017-18, that number jumped even higher to a full 2.0 HR/9 in 2019, as 20.9% of all fly balls allowed by Matz have left the yard.  Matz’s struggles peaked in June, as a string of poor outings led the Mets to remove him from the rotation, though he is slated to start on July 17 against the Twins.

Now in his fourth season as a regular, Matz has shown some flashes of brilliance for the Mets but injuries and his propensity for the home run ball have limited his value.  After generating 2.4 fWAR in his 2016 rookie season, he has been little more than a replacement-level pitcher since, with 1.3 total fWAR over his next 301 2/3 innings.  Matz hasn’t approached the type of ace-level ability Syndergaard has shown at his peak, though like Syndergaard, the Mets would arguably be selling low on Matz if they dealt him now.

Matz is in his first year of arbitration eligibility, earning $2.625MM for the season and thus in line for cost-effective salaries in both 2020 and 2021 even if Matz has a breakout next year.  Syndergaard also has two-plus years of team control remaining, though at a higher price (he is earning $6MM in 2019).  Between the control and the lack of payroll strain caused by either hurler, the Mets don’t have any particular reason to make a trade, especially since neither is pitching particularly well.

Mets Notes: Matz, Ramos, Allan

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Steven Matz has been a staple in the Mets’ rotation (when healthy) since his 2015 debut, but he’s recently been shifted to the bullpen in a move that manager Mickey Callaway hasn’t fully termed as temporary, Zach Braziller of the New York Post writes. While Callaway called Matz one of the team’s top five starters, the manager also declined to definitively state that Matz will return to the rotation. “I expect that after the All-Star break [he’ll be back in the rotation],” said Callaway, “but we’ll adjust if we need to.” That statement came prior to Matz’s bullpen debut last night — a scoreless outing. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that after the game, Callaway “hesitated multiple times” when asked about Matz’s return to the rotation and did indicate that he could stay in the ’pen for a longer period of time. Matz himself spoke to DiComo and other reporters about the different feel of relief pitching and took a team-first approach, stating that he’s willing to pitch in any role the club feels will help win games.

More Mets talk…

  • SNY’s John Harper opines that trading Wilson Ramos should be a priority for the Mets at the deadline, citing defensive issues that have led multiple pitchers to prefer throwing to Tomas Nido. Both Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard look like they’ll be paired with Nido moving forward, Harper writes. He quotes one unnamed official who suggests that part of Syndergaard’s 2019 struggles have come from pitching up in the zone more, some of which could be tied to Ramos’ struggles to block pitches in the dirt following a significant knee surgery late in his Nationals tenure. There’s no clear indication in the report that New York will actually look to jettison Ramos, who is an objectively better hitter than Nido even in a down season. Ramos has slashed .275/.348/.414 with nine homers while the 25-year-old Nido has displayed a continued inability to get on base. In 180 career plate appearances, Nido is a .209/.233/.308 hitter, including a .263 OBP in 80 trips to the plate in 2019. Defensive prowess aside, a .233 OBP is a tough sell even for a backup. Nido has walked only six times in his career despite primarily hitting eighth ahead of the pitcher.
  • The Mets reached a deal last week with their third round pick, highly-touted high school right-hander Matthew Allan.  The signing was the culmination of a bold gambit from the club’s front office, as The Athletic’s Tim Britton (subscription required) details how carving out the bonus pool space to meet Allan’s high asking price led to the Mets “manipulating our entire draft” to accommodate Allan, as GM Brodie Van Wagenen put it.  After the third round, the Mets spent the rest of their picks in rounds 4-10 on college seniors, who had less negotiating leverage and thus signed for bonuses of $20K or less.  A strong endorsement from scout Jon Updike also gave the Mets confidence that Allan would ultimately sign and begin his pro career, rather than attend college.

Mets Place Steven Matz On 10-Day IL

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The Mets announced today that lefty Steven Matz is headed to the 10-day injured list with radial nerve discomfort. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by first baseman Dominic Smith.

While Matz had hoped to avoid a stint on the shelf, it seems he’s not bouncing back quite quickly enough. The Mets already placed Jason Vargas on the IL, replacing him for the time being with just-added righty Wilmer Font.

Fortunately, the outlook is still favorable. Matz is expected to be ready to make a start on Thursday, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to tweet. As for Smith, it seems that this’ll only represent a brief return to the majors unless an injury occurs before his roster spot is needed.

Mets Place Jason Vargas On Injured List

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Mets manager Mickey Callaway announced today that lefty Jason Vargas is headed to the 10-day injured list, as Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to cover on Twitter. He left his most recent start with a hamstring injury and is evidently going to need some time to recover.

Fortunately for the New York organization, there’s still hope of a quicker bounce back for fellow southpaw starter Steven Matz, who isn’t joining Vargas on the IL. Matz is being treated for nerve irritation in his elbow, but it’s obviously not seen as a terribly worrisome issue.

The Mets will need a fill-in starter for Wednesday, at least, but haven’t yet settled on a name. Reliever Corey Oswalt was called up to fill the open roster spot; he’s one of several long-man/spot-start candidates who could be tasked with the open start, individually or in tandem.

More important than the mid-week outing is the full-season picture for the Mets staff. The club has already come under some scrutiny for sticking with Vargas to this point. While he has certainly turned in a more promising run of outings more recently, he’s a rather limited option at 36 years of age.

A significant acquisition isn’t likely at this point of the year, but the Mets could use this time to look at internal alternatives or potential piggyback candidates to pair with Vargas once he’s activated. It’s not yet clear how long Vargas is expected to be sidelined.

NL Injury Notes: Cain, Matz, Vargas, Taylor

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X-rays were negative on Lorenzo Cain’s left hand after the Brewers outfielder was hit by a Tim Peterson pitch during the sixth inning of today’s 3-2 win over the Mets.  Cain was removed from the game after his HBP, though told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that he is hopeful of playing on Tuesday, when Milwaukee hosts the Nationals.  Cain has hit .259/.316/.406 through 158 plate appearances this season, though he has made up for that slow start at the plate with his usual excellent center field defense.  It doesn’t seem like this injury will require a DL stint or perhaps even an absence whatsoever, though it’s still worth monitoring, as the Brewers can ill-afford to lose any of their stars amidst a tightly-contested NL Central race.

More from around the National League…

  • The Mets have sent Steven Matz back to New York for tests on his left forearm, manager Mickey Callaway told the New York Post’s Mike Puma and other reporters.  As per Callaway, Matz has a “nerve issue” and has been dealing with a sore forearm “for about two weeks now.”  Matz hasn’t been ruled out of his next scheduled start on Wednesday, though one would think the Mets would sit him out simply as a precautionary measure, given the inherent seriousness of forearm problems.  (Callaway noted that Matz’s current injury isn’t related to the elbow procedure he underwent in 2017.)  Losing Matz to the IL would be a blow to a New York rotation that has struggled this season, and also just generally been lacking in quality results.  Matz has posted a 3.86 ERA, 3.56 K/BB rate, and 8.2 K/9 over 35 innings, and his numbers would look better apart from a singularly disastrous outing on April 16 against the Phillies that saw him allow six earned runs without recording an out.
  • In more unfortunate injury news for the Mets, Jason Vargas left today’s game due to tightness in his left hamstring.  As Puma notes, Vargas’ spot in the rotation wouldn’t necessarily need to be filled immediately, as the Mets have enough upcoming off-days that a fifth starter isn’t required until May 18.  Vargas allowed three runs in four innings today to give him a 5.92 ERA over 24 1/3 frames in what has been a rough beginning for the veteran southpaw.
  • The Nationals have yet to receive MRI results on Michael A. Taylor after the outfielder suffered a jammed wrist on Saturday.  (MLB.com’s Jamal Collier was among those to report the news.)  Taylor already missed some time at the start of the season due to a left knee and hip sprain, and he has yet to get on track — the outfielder has a meager .111/.226/.148 slash line over 32 plate appearances.  Despite Taylor’s struggles, Washington can hardly afford to lose any more players to the IL at this point, given that Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Trea Turner, Ryan Zimmerman, and Matt Adams are all currently sidelined.  Rendon, at least, is expected to return on Tuesday.
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