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Fernando Tatis Jr. To Begin Rehab Assignment Today

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Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. is going to begin a rehab assignment today, reports Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Tatis will join the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas in advance of his expected activation on April 20, when he will have finished serving last year’s PED suspension.

Tatis, 24, was considered one of the top prospects in the sport during his time in the minors. He made good on that hype in his first couple seasons, hitting 39 home runs and stealing 27 bases over 143 games between 2019 and 2020. His .301/.374/.582 batting line in that time amounted to a wRC+ of 151, indicating he was 51% better than the league average hitter. He got mixed reviews for his defense, but held his own at the premium position of shortstop. All that led to 6.4 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, in less than a full season of work.

Based on his prospect pedigree and fiery arrival in the big leagues, the Padres placed a huge bet on Tatis. They signed him to a 14-year, $340MM extension going into 2021, one of the largest contracts in MLB history. The first season went about as well as expected, as Tatis continued to showcase himself as one of the better players in the league. He hit 42 home runs and stole 25 bases, leading to a .282/.364/.611 batting line and 157 wRC+. That was all despite some shoulder issues limiting him to 130 games and the club pushing him to the outfield for a bit, hoping that would be less taxing than playing shortstop. Even with those hurdles, he still accrued 7.2 fWAR, the highest total among position players that year.

The narrative has been much different since that time, however. He showed up to Spring Training in March of 2021 with a broken wrist, admitting that he had fallen off his motorcycle multiple times during the offseason. He required surgery on that wrist and was expected to miss about three months of the 2022 season, though he remained on the injured list into August as he didn’t return to health as quickly as hoped. He began a rehab assignment that month but it was reported shortly thereafter that he had been given an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Clostebol, a banned performance-enhancing substance. That officially ended any chance he had of playing in the big leagues at all in 2022, making that a completely lost season for him.

While out with the suspension, Tatis underwent shoulder surgery and a follow-up procedure on his wrist, using the downtime to try to get as healthy as possible. In his absence, Ha-Seong Kim had taken over the shortstop job and performed well, though the Friars went into the winter determined to make a big free agent splash. They didn’t land Trea Turner or Aaron Judge but eventually succeeded with Xander Bogaerts. He will now take over the shortstop job, pushing Kim to second and returning Tatis to the outfield, where he played 27 games in 2021.

Tatis was cleared to begin baseball activities in January and came into this year’s spring training healthy, hitting .273/.340/.432 in 16 games. The club’s postseason run counted against his suspension, knocking 12 games off the total, but he still had 20 games remaining at the beginning of the regular season. He’s expected to be activated prior to the club’s game on April 20 against the Diamondbacks but will use the next two weeks to get into game shape in Triple-A contests. Rehab assignments for position players have a maximum length of 20 days.

It’s hard to know what to expect from Tatis after a completely lost season, multiple surgeries and a position change. But if he’s able to get anywhere close to his prior level of performance, he will be a huge difference maker for the Padres as they look to make it back to the postseason again. With a lineup already boasting potent sluggers like Bogaerts, Juan Soto and Manny Machado, a healthy and productive Tatis could take them to another level. Defensively, the club has been using Soto in left and Trent Grisham in center this year, while right field starts have gone to David Dahl, José Azocar and Rougned Odor so far. The return of Tatis while likely cut into the playing time of that latter group, as the designated hitter slot figures to be taken by Nelson Cruz and Matt Carpenter.

Padres Outright Michel Báez

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The Padres announced that right-hander Michel Báez has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso. He had been designated for assignment last week.

Báez, 27, was once a highly-touted prospect, with Baseball America considering him the #28 prospect in the league in 2018. He hasn’t been able to pitch a ton since then, due to various reasons. He split 2019 and 2020 between the majors and minors, though there were no minor leagues in the latter season due to the pandemic. He then required Tommy John surgery in March of 2021. He was able to return to the mound last year, making two appearances in the majors and 41 in the minors. He posted a 4.91 ERA in that time on the farm, striking out 27.4% of batters but walking 11.1%.

The righty lost his roster spot on Opening Day when the club added Domingo Tapia and Rougned Odor. Based on Báez’s former prospect status and remaining option year, it wouldn’t have been a total shock to see another club claim him off waivers. But he ultimately cleared and will stick in the system as depth for the Padres. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. He’ll head to El Paso and try to work his way back onto the roster.

Rockies Notes: Profar, Bard, Hollowell

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Jurickson Profar made his Rockies debut in today’s 3-1 loss to the Padres, and as fate would have it, Profar’s first game with his new team happened to be against his former team.  Playing with the Padres “was everything to me,” Profar told Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and seemed to express some regret over opting out of his $7.5MM player option to stay with the Padres in 2023.  “If I was a normal free agent, not opting out, it’s different.  Opting out and free agency taking that long, I always wanted to stay….I didn’t want to (opt out), but I did,” Profar said.

The entry into free agency took a long time to resolve, as Profar didn’t reach an agreement with Colorado until March 19 on a one-year, $7.75MM deal.  Rockies hitting coach Hensley Meulens was a key recruiter in the process, as Meulens has been a longtime mentor to Profar dating back to the earliest days of his baseball career in Curacao, and Meulens managed Profar as part of the Netherlands’ team in the World Baseball Classic.  Profar is looking forward to now joining Meulens in the majors, and getting off a fresh start with his new organization.

More from the Mile High City, as the Rockies are 2-2 following their split of the season-opening series with the Padres…

  • Manager Bud Black told media (including MLB.com) that Daniel Bard threw a bullpen on Saturday, and hit 96mph during the session.  It’s a positive sign for the veteran reliever, who began the 2023 campaign on the 15-day injured list due to a return of the anxiety issues that put Bard’s career on hold for several seasons.  There isn’t yet any timetable for Bard’s return, as naturally the Rockies will give him all the time he needs.
  • The Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes placed Gavin Hollowell on the 10-day minor league IL today, and Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette (Twitter link) reports that the right-hander is dealing with forearm tightness.  While the severity of the injury isn’t yet known, any sort of forearm issue is naturally troubling for a pitcher, and it adds to a tough week of news for Hollowell — Allentuck notes that he just missed out on a spot in Colorado’s Opening Day bullpen.  A sixth-round pick for the Rockies in the 2019 draft, Hollowell made his MLB debut last season, posting a 7.71 ERA in seven innings over six appearances.  MLB Pipeline ranks Hollowell as the 24th-best prospect in the Rockies’ farm system, and feels the 6’7″ reliever’s strikeout potential gives him promise, though his control is a work in progress.

Padres Sign Jake Cronenworth To Seven-Year Extension

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April 1: The Padres have now announced the deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that it’ll be an $80MM pact over the seven year term. As previously reported, the deal doesn’t start until 2024 though so it won’t affect the Padres’ luxury tax calculation this year. Dennis Lin of The Athletic adds that it includes a limited, eight-team no trade clause.

March 31: The Padres have reached an agreement with infielder Jake Cronenworth on a seven-year extension, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic.  According to Lin, the contract starts with the 2024 season.  Lin notes that Cronenworth “has already passed his physical and the deal is expected to be announced on Saturday.”  Cronenworth is represented by CAA Sports.

Cronenworth, 29, has proven capable of playing second base, first base, and shortstop in his big league career thus far.  Though Cronenworth has by far played second base the most since coming up in 2020, the Padres’ signing of shortstop Xander Bogaerts in December pushes him to first base for 2023.  Cronenworth’s new contract runs through 2030, adding further long-term stability to an infield that already has Bogaerts and third baseman Manny Machado signed through 2033.  About a month ago, the Padres signed Machado to an extension, as the superstar was otherwise expected to deploy his opt-out clause after ’23.

Cronenworth was drafted by the Rays in the seventh round in 2015 out of the University of Michigan, where he pitched and played infield.  In December of 2019, the Rays traded Cronenworth and Tommy Pham to the Padres for Hunter Renfroe, Xavier Edwards, and Esteban Quiroz.  After he won the International League batting crown in ’19, Baseball America rated the two-way Cronenworth as a 45-grade prospect.  At the time they wrote, “Cronenworth is a heady player who gets the most out of his average tools.”

The Padres asked Cronenworth to hit pause on the pitching idea in 2020, and he made their Opening Day roster in July of that pandemic-shortened season.  The left-handed-hitting Cronenworth ended up getting the bulk of the Padres’ innings at second base as a rookie that year, at a time when Eric Hosmer was their first baseman and Fernando Tatis Jr. their shortstop.  Cronenworth and Alec Bohm tied for second in the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Devin Williams.

The Padres signed Ha-Seong Kim in December of 2020, and talked at the time about getting Cronenworth some reps in the outfield.  That didn’t come to pass, but Cronenworth did spend time in ’21 filling in for Tatis at shortstop.  He also earned his first All-Star nod, and posted a 116 wRC+ on the season.

Cronenworth settled in at second base for 2022, making another All-Star team though ultimately slipping a bit to a 109 wRC+.  Cronenworth’s solid defense around the infield, above-average hitting, durability, and versatility led to 4.1 WAR in each of the ’21 and ’22 seasons.  With exactly three years of service after ’22, Cronenworth inked a one-year arbitration deal for 2023 worth $4.225MM.

Cronenworth’s new seven-year deal, then, buys out his final two arbitration years plus another five of free agency.  The seven-year term is perhaps the most surprising element, as it will carry Cronenworth through the age of 36.  Back in January, the Mets signed second baseman Jeff McNeil to an extension that also bought out two arbitration years, but that contract bought out two free agent years with an option for a third.  Another point of comparison is the Rockies’ March 2022 extension for Ryan McMahon, which bought out two arbitration years and four free agent seasons.

We’ve yet to see a dollar figure on Cronenworth’s extension, but surely the competitive balance tax played a significant role in the deal.  As you know, a team’s CBT payroll is calculated using the average annual values of multiyear contracts.  Unexpectedly long terms and therefore lower AAVs have been a theme throughout GM A.J. Preller’s offseason.  Robert Suarez got five years, Bogaerts received 11, Yu Darvish had five years added, and Michael Wacha signed what is considered a four-year deal.

Cronenworth’s new extension doesn’t affect the Padres’ 2023 payroll, which at an estimated $276MM currently sits above the third tax tier of $273MM.  Should the team end 2023 above $273MM, their top draft pick in 2024 will be pushed back ten spots – in addition to the tax penalties owed as a third-time payor.

Cronenworth joins Machado, Bogaerts, Darvish, Tatis, Suarez, and Joe Musgrove as Padres signed through at least 2027.  Before accounting for Cronenworth, but including Nick Martinez and the aforementioned six players, the Padres’ 2025 CBT payroll exceeds $137MM.  Kim, the Padres’ current second baseman, is signed through 2024.

A pair of big-name Padres are still on one-year arbitration deals: Juan Soto and Josh Hader.  Regarding Soto, slated for free agency after 2024, Lin writes, “there have been no indications that the Padres have engaged the star outfielder in serious talks about a potentially record-setting extension.”

In a March article for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, MLBTR’s Steve Adams laid out a Hader extension scenario that would reduce this year’s luxury tax hit, writing, “If the Padres want to keep threading the creative contract needle, offering Hader the longest (if not the largest) contract ever signed by a reliever would probably only qualify as the fourth- or fifth-craziest move they’ve made over the past calendar year.”

Padres Select Rougned Odor, Domingo Tapia

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The Padres announced a few transactions as they set their Opening Day roster. Rougned Odor and reliever Domingo Tapia both made the team, with San Diego formally selecting their contracts. The Friars also confirmed the previously reported addition of outfielder David Dahl to the 40-man. San Diego needed to create two 40-man vacancies. They’ve done so by designating righty Michel Báez for assignment and placing southpaw Adrián Morejón on the 60-day injured list with an elbow sprain.

Additionally, San Diego placed a handful of pitchers on the 15-day IL. Joe Musgrove, Robert Suarez, Drew Pomeranz and José Castillo will all start the season on the shelf.

Odor is entering his tenth season at the big league level. The longtime Ranger second baseman has bounced around the league over the past few seasons. He’s been a below-average hitter overall due to dismal on-base numbers but continued to draw interest thanks to some left-handed power. Odor appeared in 135 games for the Orioles last season, hitting 13 homers but posting just a .207/.275/.357 line in 472 plate appearances.

Signed to a minor league deal over the offseason, Odor impressed in Spring Training. He put together a .316/.422/.474 slash with a pair of homers in 38 at-bats.  The career second baseman also saw some corner outfield action in exhibition play to broaden his defensive flexibility off the bench. He could join Dahl and Matt Carpenter in taking some right field work until Fernando Tatis Jr. returns from suspension.

Tapia, 31, inked a minor league deal over the winter. He threw 17 innings for the A’s last year, allowing 16 runs with more walks than strikeouts. While it wasn’t a particularly encouraging season, Tapia averaged around 98 MPH on his fastball and posted a 1.76 ERA in 30 2/3 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas. He nabs an Opening Day bullpen job in San Diego after tossing eight innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts and no walks this spring. Tapia still has a minor league option year remaining, so the Friars could bounce him between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso throughout the season.

Báez has pitched at the MLB level in three of the last four seasons. The bulk of that came in 2019, when he made 24 appearances. Báez pitched only twice in the majors last year. He threw 21 1/3 innings for El Paso, allowing an 8.44 ERA while walking a huge 16.7% of opposing hitters. The Padres will now have a week to deal him or put him on waivers.

Morejón is now officially out until the end of May. He returned from Tommy John surgery to make 26 appearances out of the bullpen last season. Elbow soreness cropped back up this spring, an alarming development considering that history. Initial imaging didn’t reveal any structural damage, with the club first calling the issue inflammation. Terming it a sprain — which inherently involves some stretching of the ligament — is a little more concerning and will keep him out of action for a while.

Padres’ Third Base Coach Matt Williams Taking Leave Of Absence After Colon Cancer Diagnosis

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Padres third base coach Matt Williams will step away from the team for an undetermined amount of time following tomorrow’s Opening Day festivities. Skipper Bob Melvin informed reporters (including Alden González of ESPN) on Wednesday that Williams was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. He’ll undergo surgery to address the issue on Friday.

Williams said he was first made aware of the issue a few weeks ago after a standard physical turned up a low red blood cell count. Fortunately, the 57-year-old indicated he’s feeling well physically. “I don’t have any symptoms, I don’t have any issues,” Williams told reporters. “At this point it’s important now to get it out of there. That’s the plan for Friday, and we’ll see how it goes from there. They’ll test, and they’ll do all the pathology and all of that at that point. But the initial scans were positive in that on the initial CT scan they didn’t see any spread anywhere else. That’s a good thing. We’ll see where it goes from there.”

A five-time All-Star during his playing days, Williams has spent the better part of the last decade in the coaching ranks. He managed for the Nationals for two seasons in 2014-15, securing the NL’s Manager of the Year award in his first campaign. Williams later spent time on the A’s coaching staff and followed Melvin to San Diego over the 2021-22 offseason. He’s headed into his second season with the Friars.

Former Cardinals’ manager and current senior advisor Mike Shildt will take over third base coaching duties on an interim basis. MLBTR sends our best wishes to Williams and his family on his recovery.

Padres To Select David Dahl

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The Padres have informed outfielder David Dahl that he’ll be on the major league roster, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders suggested earlier this evening things were trending in that direction.

Dahl returns to the big leagues for the first time since 2021. He split last season between the Triple-A affiliates of the Brewers and Nationals, combining for a .279/.345/.442 line over 359 plate appearances. That generally solid work didn’t earn him an MLB spot with either club, however, and Dahl didn’t sign after opting out of his deal with Washington in mid-August. He waited until the offseason before catching on with San Diego on a minor league deal.

The left-handed hitter is no stranger to the NL West. Dahl was a top ten pick and highly-regarded prospect with the Rockies early in his career. He showed a decent amount of promise over his first few seasons, including an All-Star nod amidst a 2019 campaign in which he hit .302/.353/.524 over 100 games. Various injuries made that the only year in which he reached that playing time threshold and contributed to him being non-tendered by Colorado one year later. Between 2020-21, Dahl hit only .201/.239/.299 over 319 plate appearances between the Rockies and Rangers.

It was a solid spring for the 28-year-old. Dahl hit .288/.311/.458 over 59 at-bats in exhibition play. That secured him a spot in the San Diego corner outfield mix. The Friars will be without Fernando Tatis Jr. for the first 20 games as he finishes his performance-enhancing drug suspension. That leaves a revolving door early in the year alongside Juan Soto and Trent Grisham. Dahl and Matt Carpenter are the top offensive options in that group, while defensive specialist José Azocar could crack the roster in a reserve capacity.

Dahl has between four and five years of major league service time. He’d be eligible for arbitration for another season if he gets on track in his new environment and holds his roster spot all year. He still has one minor league option remaining as well, so the Friars could send him to Triple-A El Paso upon Tatis’ return without exposing him to waivers.

The Padres sent Rule 5 draftee José Lopez back to the Rays over the weekend. That transaction opened a spot on the 40-man roster, so the Friars won’t need to make a corresponding move to formally select Dahl’s contract tomorrow morning.

Latest On Cole Hamels

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  • The Padres believe that veteran left-hander Cole Hamels will be able to contribute to the big league club sometime this summer, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Hamels, 39, signed with the Padres on a minor league deal after years of battling injuries, with just 3 1/3 innings of work under his belt since the end of the 2019 season. Still, with a career 3.43 ERA in 2,698 innings of work during his fifteen year major league career, it’s easy to see why the Padres decided to take a chance on the possibility he could return healthy and effective.

Padres Return Rule 5 Pick Jose Lopez To Rays; Option Brandon Dixon; Reassign Julio Teheran, and Tim Lopes

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As the Padres begin to make some of their final roster cuts ahead of Opening Day, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell reports that San Diego has returned Rule 5 draft pick Jose Lopez to the Rays, optioned utilityman Brandon Dixon, and reassigned right-hander Julio Teheran and utilityman Tim Lopes to minor league camp.

Lopez became the 12th player picked in this year’s Rule 5 draft when the Padres selected him with the 21st pick. A left-handed pitcher Lopez was dominant at Double-A with the Rays last year, striking out a whopping 38.7% of batters faced at the level en route to a 2.60 ERA in 55 1/3 innings. That dominance was enough for the Padres to take a chance on the 24 year-old Lopez, but after a difficult spring where he walked five batters in six innings of work, Lopez is being returned to the Rays, who will pay San Diego back half of the $100k fee the Padres paid to select Lopez in order to reclaim him.

Teheran, meanwhile, was a potential option to act as the sixth starter in San Diego while Joe Musgrove is on the shelf with a fractured toe. An 11-year MLB veteran, the 32 year old Teheran has a career 3.80 ERA in 1396 1/3 innings of work that came primarily as a member of the Braves rotation from 2013 to 2019. Over that period of time, Teheran showed himself to be a reliable, innings-eating back-end starter with an ERA+ of 111. Teheran struggled mightily in the shortened 2020 season with the Angels, however, and has only pitched five big league innings since then. Cassavell notes that due to the assignment clause in Teheran’s contract, he can depart the Padres organization if he receives a big league offer elsewhere. For now, though, Teheran seems poised to remain with San Diego, serving as depth in Triple-A.

Both Dixon and Lopes were in the mix to be part of the Padres bench. Dixon, 31, has a career 74 wRC+ in 201 games at the big league level but provides versatility, with experience at first, second, and third base and all three outfield spots during his major league career. However, with versatile players such as Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim already on the roster, the Padres will instead opt to send Dixon to Triple-A as depth. Lopes, meanwhile, has primarily been a corner outfielder in the big leagues but also has experience in center field, at second base, third base, and shortstop. The 29 year-old Lopes has just 94 games of big league experience to this point in his career, and hit well this spring with an .890 OPS in 55 plate appearances. Despite that solid showing, Lopes will join Dixon as depth in Triple-A.

After this round of cuts, it would appear that outfielder David Dahl and infielder Rougned Odor are in line to make the Opening Day roster in San Diego, while the sixth starter spot could go to left-hander Jay Groome or right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. Dahl had some early success with the Rockies in his career, but has battled injuries throughout his career and has struggled to just a .538 OPS in 87 games since the start of the 2021 season. Odor, meanwhile, spent seven seasons as the regular second baseman for the Rangers, posting an 86 wRC+ during that time, before spending 2021 with the Yankees and 2022 with the Royals. Despite the meager offense numbers for both players in recent years, each can provide the Padres with a left-handed swing off the bench while providing depth in the outfield and infield, respectively.

As for the sixth starter battle, Groome, whom the Padres acquired in the Eric Hosmer deal with the Red Sox last summer, has dazzled in 14 innings of work this spring with a 1.29 ERA, though he has struggled with his control, walking 10 batters while striking out 13. Honeywell, meanwhile, signed a major league deal with the Padres this offseason after the former top prospect was non-tendered by the Rays after years of injury woes. Honeywell got hit hard this spring, posting a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings, but with 22 strikeouts and just six walks in those innings, there’s reason to believe the quality arm he seemed destined to become as a prospect could still surface.

Robert Suarez Likely Headed To Injured List

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Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Padres reliever Robert Suarez is expected to begin the 2023 campaign on the injured list with arm stiffness and joint inflammation. An MRI revealed no structural damage, but the right-hander has remained shut down since March 12 nonetheless. A timetable for his return is currently unknown, though Acee notes that Suarez could resume throwing soon. If Suarez opens the season on the IL, he would first be eligible to return on April 7.

Suarez, who made his major league debut last season at the age of 31 following a lengthy run in Japan’s NPB, dominated to the tune of a 2.27 ERA (166 ERA+) and 3.22 FIP in 47 2/3 innings with the Padres last year. Following the 2022 season, Suarez re-upped with San Diego on a five-year, $46MM deal deal and entered the spring as the top option to set-up for closer Josh Hader. With Suarez likely starting the season on the IL, Luis Garcia and Tim Hill seem likely to see work in the late innings until Suarez and left-hander Drew Pomeranz are ready to return from injury.

With Suarez, Pomeranz, Jose Castillo and Adrian Morejon all set to start the season on the injured list, the door is wide open for San Diego’s pitching depth to make the roster, as Acee notes that in addition to one of Julio Teheran, Jay Groome, Ryan Weathers, or Brent Honeywell making the team as the sixth starter while Joe Musgrove recovers from a fractured toe, as many as two more of the aforementioned names could be rostered to open the season as long men out of the bullpen, as the number of pitching injuries plaguing the Padres leave plenty of innings to cover. Michel Baez and Jose Lopez are among other options who could stand to benefit from the available innings.

Without a clear picture of how much time Suarez will miss, it’s hard to say how much this injury will impact the Padres, who figure to lock horns with the Dodgers as frontrunners for the NL West this season. While injuries have tested San Diego’s pitching depth this spring, LA has struggled with injuries of its own, losing Gavin Lux for the season to a torn ACL while also expecting to start the season without right-hander Tony Gonsolin.

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