2017-18 OFF-SEASON

[Neddy]

so, that immediately makes our rotation as

1. Kershaw
2. Wood
3. Hill
4. Maeda
5. Ryu

with Urias returning at some point later in 2018, that's not a bad rotation to start the season. this also makes Buehler just 1 injury away from being the #5 guy. I hope Tom Koehler isn't signed on for injury insurance policy as a starter, but as a Brandon Morrow reclamation project v2.0.

[Ranma]

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[Quake Griffin]

so, that immediately makes our rotation as

1. Kershaw
2. Wood
3. Hill
4. Maeda
5. Ryu

with Urias returning at some point later in 2018, that's not a bad rotation to start the season. this also makes Buehler just 1 injury away from being the #5 guy. I hope Tom Koehler isn't signed on for injury insurance policy as a starter, but as a Brandon Morrow reclamation project v2.0.

It sounds like we are interested in starting Buehler if all goes well.

With his talent, if all goes well, he won’t need injury to crack the lineup.


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[Quake Griffin]

I’ve wanted A-Gon gone for some while so it is hard for me to switch gears with what he wrote to the fans.

I still remember walking home while studying for the bar in Chicago and seeing him downtown with his family 2 years ago. He was cool as hell and blended in with no problem.

Good luck to him unless it is against los Doyers.


Wonder what this means for Yu Darvish.


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[Ranma]

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[Dloading99]

Mixed feelings about this. bittersweet. Adrian is my favorite Dodger. I'm still going to be wearing my Adrian Gonzalez jersey to Dodgers games this season at Dodger Stadium.

He did a lot for us gave us a stable bat when we didn't have one. was a great power hitter for us. and hit some clutch home runs in the playoffs.

So I was really hoping to see how he would do this season after a full off season of resting his back. we'll I also thought he could play some first base with Bellinger playing the out field.


As for Kemp one of my favorite Dodgers saw him come up through this organization. saw his first game. really was great to see him develop into an MVP candidate and that MVP should've been his. he was part of the Andre Eithier Adrian Gonzalez Hanley Ramirez dodgers. well see what happens. he hates the Giants so he's good with me. great guy.


I hope we keep him. would be good to have his bat in the middle of the lineup and he can hit some home runs with Bellinger around him. I had him in fantasy last season. he hits home runs. and he can still be productive. he can play some out field and with matchups he can play hitting right handed and play some right field and left field.

if you want to play Taylor at second base. you can have a great lineup of Taylor Seager Bellinger Turner Kemp Puig Grandal Forsythe or Barnes so I think we got some pop.also maybe kemp can play some first base to.

really shows us that we were all way out of the ball park with thinking we were going to get Stanton. This team was no way taking on that big contract. they said they just wanted the salary relief. so I can see these guys getting rid of more salary.

Still want to see what they are going to do to replace Morrow. and was pissed they let CC sabathia go back to the Yankees. maybe we can trade for Grienke now and take some salary back.

Kind of funny that the guys who were traded for Kemp is what we were talking about Trading for Stanton. and we get Kemp. haha lol.

[Ranma]

really shows us that we were all way out of the ball park with thinking we were going to get Stanton. This team was no way taking on that big contract. they said they just wanted the salary relief. so I can see these guys getting rid of more salary.

Still want to see what they are going to do to replace Morrow. and was pissed they let CC sabathia go back to the Yankees. maybe we can trade for Grienke now and take some salary back.

Kind of funny that the guys who were traded for Kemp is what we were talking about Trading for Stanton. and we get Kemp. haha lol.

What are you talking about? We were in on Stanton, but it had to be on our terms. You're right in that the Dodgers were never going to accept bailing the Marlins out of Stanton's huge contract and the remaining 10 years on it. The Dodgers made it known they were interested, but again, only if it made sense for them and we could have just as likely traded for him had the Yankees not come in at the last second to snipe us or Stanton had held out only for the Dodgers. After all, it was obvious that Miami had to unload his contract one way or the other. Even the Yankees didn't take on the entirety of Stanton's contract, so why were you expecting the Dodgers to do the same? The only reason he's a Yankee is because Miami and Stanton both panicked in order to get a deal done as soon as possible with New York willing to absorb more money than the Dodgers.

Talking about another ill-advised albatross contract, Greinke's would be the definition of it. Arizona significantly overpaid in the deal in order to convince him not to sign the overpaid one offered by the Giants, who are still smarting over the contracts handed out to Cueto and Samardzija. Greinke is already on the downside of his performance curve due to age and ability, so why would we be willing to take on his contract when that proposition will only get progressively worse from this point on? We're just now getting out from under the bad contracts of Crawford, Beckett, and Gonzalez from the big trade with Boston, so why put ourselves right back in that position? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

We would be better off pursuing either Cole or Archer or waiting until the trade deadline to make a move to bolster our roster than anchoring ourselves to another albatross contract commitment the season right before we can make a play at Machado, Harper, et al in the vaunted free agency of winter, 2018.

The only options to realistically replace Morrow' production would be to trade for either Hand or Britton and either of those options would be at a cost more expensive than had we just re-signed Morrow, which I absolutely wished the Dodgers had done.

If Kemp wasn't noted for being a clubhouse cancer during his time here, he might have gotten consideration as an option for a platoon in left field, but he's more likely to be outright released with the Dodgers eating the entirety of his remaining contract commitment than ever putting on a Dodger uniform again. As it is, the Dodgers are undoubtedly trying to unload him off to an American League team, but even as solely a DH option, Kemp is an unappealing proposition for any team to consider right now.

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[Dloading99]

You make good points.

I'm just trying to win.

I still feel if we wanted Stanton we could've got him. They could've told his agents just wait for us. and Stanton would've vetoed the Yankee deal. but they played Coy acting like they really didn't want to take him on when everyone was talking about Stanton to the Dodgers how that is his favorite team. it's bull.

And come on as much as we hate the Giants. they are a great team and a tremendous organization. if it's about winning. they've won three world series. it's a great city. it's California and the Cardinals are great to. it's a baseball town. The Dodgers thought they had him and were going to wait until Miami unloaded him for nothing.

The Yankees were always around and just to spite us cause they are the Yankees and want to have everybody they went out and got him. just like Arod. this reminds me of Alex Rodriguez not the same thing but when Arod was supposed to go to Boston and the Yankees swooped in and got him. and that's just us we never get players like that. we didn't get Arod we didn't get Griffey we didn't get Barry. we just don't get those type of players. still pissed about Piazza.


But back to Stanton He was looking at it like well the Yankees want me it's the Yankees baseballs number one organization probably biggest brand in sports. it's gotta be the Yankees so he said you can't veto a trade to the them. Ruth Mantle Jackson Arod Jeter This is the Yanees this is baseball so he said yes. you can look at that press conference and it's clear that wasn't his first choice it's clear he didn't want to go there but he was happy to get out of that dysfunctional situation in Miami. and players don't like playing in New York the fans the media the first slump he has he's gonna be like I want to be back in Miami. but the money is there and the market.


What I don't understand is how does his agent allow that trade cause now that's Judges team all those endorsements are going to Judge. just insane. I still think the Dodgers would've been a better situation for him. but with Judge tweeting him there's no way he would veto that trade.



But Friedman was not going to take on that contract. no way. but here it is next year Kershaw has the opt out and he will opt out. then you're dealing with probably Texas Houston New York they all will be putting their bid in. we need to make sure we win this year. I would still like to trade for Machado.

Next year this is just my experience with the Dodgers we aren't signing any big free agent Harper or Machado. last big one we signed was Kevin Brown and that was Kevin Malone who gave him a private Jet. what do you think harpers going to want an Island lol. but Harper is going to want 500 million no way we are paying that. he probably goes to the Yankees cause they are the Yankees or Cubs.


Machado says he wants to play in New York so I can see him going to New York to play Shortstop and take over for Jeter. they'll figure out what to do with Digorious.

Gerrit Cole I've called Dodger talk begging the Dodgers to trade for him. he's from Orange Orange county guy UCLA local guy but we don't have it to get him. He's probably going to Boston or New York.

Archer I don't want him. I had him in fantasy dude gives up a lot of home runs.


If you read my other post we are looking at Walker Buehler and I like his stuff. solid number five starter. realistically you are looking at Kershaw Darvish Woody Rich Hill and Buehler


If Kemp wants to rededicate himself to baseball and get in shape he can help us in the outfield. he was around Yasiel and mentored him. he's been into his stats but it's a different Matt Kemp he was immature. it's Justin Turners locker room now and Matt Kemp knows that. but he's been here before he knows what being a Dodger is all about Clean Slate.


They said the same thing about Yaseil Puig Dave Roberts is here and I think Dave Roberts would be great for Matt Kemp. he's very good at Development. I've met Dave and talked to him. he knows the game he's been around great players like Shawn Green and Brian Jordan.

Matt has made his money. and at this point he wants to win and when you played for the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres and you are back in this winning organization you change. you have a chance to win. you know everybody. and just hearing him talk on Dodger talk about the Dodgers know bad words just all great stuff he had to say about the Dodgers and fans and his time here. he was so happy and positive. he sounded like a fan like he wanted to come back. so I'm going to order some food some sushi. enjoy myself and watch that Matt Kemp press conference on Spectrum Dodgers station.


I gotta have some kind of off season pickup to be happy about and Bringing matt back is great. he's hit some big home runs for us. and as much as we like to move guys in and out of the lineup I like having that bat and the flexibility of that bat. we could've used that against Houston especially in some of the DH situations. so cheer up we moved a lot of contracts. Adrian Agon is my guy my favorite Dodger. but I'm welcoming Matt Kemp back cause I'm all about Dodger Blue.


It's time for Dodgers Basbeball Vin Scully voice. Hey we got Kemp we got Vets we got Turner and we still got young guys we are going to make our run with this Kershaw squad. and we still have Alex Verdugo Seager and Bellinger and Buehler so we are good all over.

[Ranma]

I still feel if we wanted Stanton we could've got him. They could've told his agents just wait for us. and Stanton would've vetoed the Yankee deal. but they played Coy acting like they really didn't want to take him on when everyone was talking about Stanton to the Dodgers how that is his favorite team. it's bull.

You're making a lot of assumptions. First, the Dodgers are not allowed to make contact with Stanton or his agent without the Marlins' permission. Heck, it's even against MLB rules for teams to contact players without the framework of a trade in place. Sure, the Dodgers could have found a way to inform him directly, but it was pointless and unnecessary. The Marlins didn't want to lose what little tactics they had left to them in their attempts to dump Stanton's contract. After MLB came down hard on the Red Sox and Braves for violating international signing rules, do you honestly think it was worth the risk to make unauthorized contact with Stanton's camp when it was already known the Dodgers were interested and that Stanton had full leverage on where he could be traded to?

Second, I'll acknowledge that the Dodgers weren't really making Stanton a priority because of his contract and were more of opportunistic buyers, but that is exactly how they should have approached it. Ohtani was their top priority and, given the relatively inexpensive cost of acquiring him and the low-risk, high-reward proposition that he represented, it was a no-brainer. At the same time, Ohtani had fairly little to do with the pursuit of Stanton outside of maybe an open spot in the outfield for them both.

Third, the bottom line is that the Dodgers were interested, but only if it made sense for them. Stanton's long-term contract and health with respect to the latter years of the deal made him a risky player to acquire. It's exactly why not one team put a claim on him to acquire him and the entirety of his contract during the waiver trade deadline.

And yet, without even trying, the Dodgers were still considered the likeliest destination for him. San Francisco and St. Louis were eliminated despite weeks of talks. Boston gave up. The Yankees only came in after Stanton's approved list of teams was leaked (most likely by Miami) that only included 4 teams.

If Stanton wanted to be a Dodger, he had the leverage to make it happen, but instead he panicked and accepted going to the Yankees. The Dodgers played it entirely right and losing out on Stanton was not the end of the world.

The Yankees were always around and just to spite us cause they are the Yankees and want to have everybody they went out and got him. just like Arod. this reminds me of Alex Rodriguez not the same thing but when Arod was supposed to go to Boston and the Yankees swooped in and got him. and that's just us we never get players like that. we didn't get Arod we didn't get Griffey we didn't get Barry. we just don't get those type of players. still pissed about Piazza.

But back to Stanton He was looking at it like well the Yankees want me it's the Yankees baseballs number one organization probably biggest brand in sports. it's gotta be the Yankees so he said you can't veto a trade to the them. Ruth Mantle Jackson Arod Jeter This is the Yanees this is baseball so he said yes. you can look at that press conference and it's clear that wasn't his first choice it's clear he didn't want to go there but he was happy to get out of that dysfunctional situation in Miami. and players don't like playing in New York the fans the media the first slump he has he's gonna be like I want to be back in Miami. but the money is there and the market.

What I don't understand is how does his agent allow that trade cause now that's Judges team all those endorsements are going to Judge. just insane. I still think the Dodgers would've been a better situation for him. but with Judge tweeting him there's no way he would veto that trade.

It's funny how the Yankees deal only happened once the list was leaked. The Yankees knew the Dodgers had the inside track to get him, but once they found out that they were one of the teams Stanton would approve a trade to, they jumped right in. Miami leaked the list of approved teams precisely because they wanted to avoid having to deal with the Dodgers only. Both the Cardinals and Giants made better offers than what the Yankees ended up sending and the Yankees had to take on more monetary commitment in order to avoid having him go to the Dodgers.

I'm not even saying that there were not preliminary talks between the Yankees and Marlins beforehand, but Cashman went all in once events transpired to the point where opportunity knocked, which is why he didn't clear the situation with Judge until then.

The Yankees made out in the deal without a doubt, but they could afford to when they have the designated hitter to play Stanton at as his big body ages and takes him out of the outfield. The Dodgers don't have that luxury, which again, points to why Stanton's contract was not appealing to them or most teams. The Dodgers may have been Stanton's favorite team, but he was willing to be a Yankee, Cub or Astro, which is why they were all on his approved list of teams.

You cite the A-Rod trade, but Texas had to swallow 40% of his remaining contract in order to make the deal with the Yankees. If Miami had offered such terms, he'd be a Dodger right now.

But Friedman was not going to take on that contract. no way. but here it is next year Kershaw has the opt out and he will opt out. then you're dealing with probably Texas Houston New York they all will be putting their bid in. we need to make sure we win this year. I would still like to trade for Machado.

Next year this is just my experience with the Dodgers we aren't signing any big free agent Harper or Machado. last big one we signed was Kevin Brown and that was Kevin Malone who gave him a private Jet. what do you think harpers going to want an Island lol. but Harper is going to want 500 million no way we are paying that. he probably goes to the Yankees cause they are the Yankees or Cubs.

Machado says he wants to play in New York so I can see him going to New York to play Shortstop and take over for Jeter. they'll figure out what to do with Digorious.

We already agreed that Friedman was not going to take on that contract, so why keep harping on it? Maybe the Dodgers don't re-sign Kershaw or get either Harper or Machado, but it'd be unrealistic to think that the Dodgers will not be in play in next year's free agency. Our front office is absolutely not inclined to commit big money and a lot of years to free agents, but at the same time, they recognize that we're in a big market and will splurge when opportunities are warranted and within reason. Friedman himself said that you can't always be entirely rational in free agency when we re-signed Jansen.

However, that doesn't mean that they'll just hand $500 million over to Harper to make him a Dodger nor should they. They'll do cost-benefit analyses to see if deals are worth it. The Dodgers have a front office that is the envy of the league, so we can trust them to make the prudent moves overall. Does that mean that they'll always make the right moves or that I'll agree with all their decisions? Heck no (see Brandon Morrow), but I have faith that they'll do the right thing many times more often than not, which they've done so far.

If Kershaw goes elsewhere, it's because someone just offered him too many years at too much money a la Greinke. It would hurt us tremendously, but it will likely be the right thing to do in passing on such a deal. Kershaw has said in the past that he wants to earn the right amount of money and doesn't mind not getting as much money as he could when he signed his extension with the Dodgers. I'm sure he'll cost quite the pretty penny to re-sign, but I'm comfortable that he and the Dodgers can come to agreeable terms.

I've advocated for acquiring Machado for years now whether it's through trade or free agency. He's only 2 years older than Seager and is clearly the better player right now and undoubtedly the better defensive SS. We may not make a trade for him paying the high price for a rental, but I hope we go all out to sign him as a free agent. Still, I'm holding out hope that we can get a leg up on the competition by acquiring both Britton and Machado in a package from Baltimore to help with their cost-cutting efforts.

Gerrit Cole I've called Dodger talk begging the Dodgers to trade for him. he's from Orange Orange county guy UCLA local guy but we don't have it to get him. He's probably going to Boston or New York.

Archer I don't want him. I had him in fantasy dude gives up a lot of home runs.

If you read my other post we are looking at Walker Buehler and I like his stuff. solid number five starter. realistically you are looking at Kershaw Darvish Woody Rich Hill and Buehler

I've also previously advocated trading for Cole just as I have for Archer. In fact, I think I've even favored Cole over Archer in the past. In any case, I don't see us paying the price for Cole this off-season but maybe the Dodgers will carry out my Cole-McCutchen scenario from last year. I see us more likely dealing with Tampa Bay for Archer given Friedman's affinity for him and the relationship he has with his former front-office colleagues.

While neither Cole or Archer are a perfect co-ace to pair with Kershaw right now, they still have upside that Honeycutt could work with and both are the most attractive options available right now given their respective youth and talent. The market for established starting pitchers looks wanting for the foreseeable future, which makes Cole and Archer really desirable commodities at the moment. I'll be happy with either one unless and until something better becomes feasible.

I've previously said that Buehler should get consideration as our 5th starter even prior to Roberts coming out this past week or so in saying that he'll be developed as a starter moving forward, but if it takes him to get a trade for Archer (or Cole) done, I expect him to be included in such a deal. As I've also said before, Buehler's health, work-in-progress mechanics, and similar ceiling to Archer and Cole make it worth giving him up to acquire either of those 2 pitchers.

If Kemp wants to rededicate himself to baseball and get in shape he can help us in the outfield. he was around Yasiel and mentored him. he's been into his stats but it's a different Matt Kemp he was immature. it's Justin Turners locker room now and Matt Kemp knows that. but he's been here before he knows what being a Dodger is all about Clean Slate.

They said the same thing about Yaseil Puig Dave Roberts is here and I think Dave Roberts would be great for Matt Kemp. he's very good at Development. I've met Dave and talked to him. he knows the game he's been around great players like Shawn Green and Brian Jordan.

Matt has made his money. and at this point he wants to win and when you played for the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres and you are back in this winning organization you change. you have a chance to win. you know everybody. and just hearing him talk on Dodger talk about the Dodgers know bad words just all great stuff he had to say about the Dodgers and fans and his time here. he was so happy and positive. he sounded like a fan like he wanted to come back. so I'm going to order some food some sushi. enjoy myself and watch that Matt Kemp press conference on Spectrum Dodgers station.

I'm not going to say that Kemp has a zero chance of being a Dodger for 2018, but if I had to bet the farm, I'd place my chip on him being elsewhere before the season starts without hesitation. What makes you think Kemp wants to rededicate himself when, like you said, he's already made his money and has 2 more years and $43 million coming to him? His unwillingness to play LF is what led him to be traded away in the first place and now he's among the very worst at even that position with Olney criticizing him as a player who doesn't give much consistent effort playing defense.

Development applies to players younger than Kemp at this stage of his career. Your term of "rededication" makes more sense and given his age, that is a fairly reasonable take, but until he actually shows it with action instead of words, I'm not going to be convinced by happy thoughts. It remains to be seen if he'll even get an opportunity in spring training to show a change of heart and, at this point, it's likely not even worth it. Kemp will only get such an opportunity if the Dodgers can't find any takers for him and, even then, they may just outright release him and eat the entirety of his remaining salary commitment and I wouldn't even blink an eye.

[TKainZero]

Keep up the great work Ramma and dloading

That was more dodgers in depth analysis than I have seen on any website in years!!!

3 cheers

[Quake Griffin]

We’ve made one mistake this offseason - Brandon Morrow.

Why are we discussing Stanton or Stanton like players like he’s God? Why are we discussing him as if he’s some splash trade our franchise needs to finally make just because the Yankees always do?

Our front office needs to continue to be smart, prudent, and cost effective in putting together this roster. They handled the Stanton situation perfectly.

I don’t see why this franchise wouldn’t be in on the 2018 free agent class. They look more poised than ever to actually make a run at those free agents and actually take on the luxury tax of doing so going into the 2020s. I believe there is an LA Times article on this right now.


And again. Kershaw needs to not choke in the postseason. Kershaw needs to not break the record for the most HRs in a postseason. Kershaw need not blow a 4-0 lead and a 7-4 lead in a pivotal WS Game 5. Friedman and Dave have bent over backwards to help him. We aren’t proving anything to him this season and we don’t have to. If he wants to take his ball, balky back, and leave...to hell with him.


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[Quake Griffin]

https://t.co/6LTdGhrSDg

Article on how the Dodgers may have saved $100 mill towards FA next season.

Ranma is good about getting tweets up.
So sorry if he already posted.


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[Dloading99]

Good points

There's ways you can let a player know you want him without actually talking to him or his reps. The NBA does it all the time with players. all you have to do is have players let Stanton know that they want him there. other ways are simple. You can say have you ever heard this. We really want the best player in the league and we want the best players in the league. we want superstar players. and this is the perfect place for Superstar players to play. this is the perfect place for the superstar player. because we are committed to winning here. so any superstar player that wants to win is going to want to play for our team. That's great that those superstar players want to play for us and we are excited about superstar players wanting to play for us. and having those superstar players play for us is very exciting.

We always want to have the best players play for us. and if those superstar players want to play for us. this is the best place for them to play. this is a great place for players to play. He's from The Valley he's an L.A. guy there's some way we could've gotten that to him to just tell them he only wants to play for us and to say he doesn't want to accept a trade any where but L.A.


Jeter Colluded with his former GM brian Cashman and you are going to help out the guy that got you a contract for 100 million. so Obviously there was a call. hey if the other deals don't happen. we are listening and we can work something out. Jeter sends a star to New York. and the Yankees do what they always do take the salary. Now I'm with you. Stanton could've gotten to the Dodgers all he had to do was veto the trade and say I'm only going to the Dodgers and if you don't trade me I'll just opt out and sign there.

Those teams all made sense Chicago big city winning star players Bryant great manager. Houston just won the world series will be going back and has a great team. L.A. favorite Team and the Yankees well it's New York and it's the Yankees.


We'll see what happens with Machado and Harper.



AS for Kemp. Look this guy really likes being in L.A. and maybe that will motivate him. being around these guys dave it's a different culture. Maybe Kemp can get into shape if he gets into shape. he can still be productive and last year we needed extra outfield guys. I'm not giving anybody a guarantee outfield spot that Dude can Mash. and if we can put taylor at second base and put Kemp in Left Field that guy is still 25 home runs and 90 rbis. in that lineup he can still get home runs. and he can bounce back and have a great Season. he can still be productive. you got two seasons to see what this guy can do. and the new Kemp can be something that we can use to actually win a World Series. I like TURNER WARD let's see what he does with this guy. I know Kemp is Stoked.


AGonzalez is my favorite player so I'm trying to make the best of this. Kemps our guy and we got a Bat. Lets bring Yu back and get a Wade Davis and get back to the World Series unfinished business with Houston.

[Ranma]

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[Takes5]

Love the creativity and effort to get the $tax situation resolved so that 2018 FA looks to be golden.
Please no Kemp in LF. Rather have any of, or platoon combo of, Joc + **** + Toles + Thompson + Verdugo + Segedin (even Bellinger) than Kemp out there.
One of the happiest days of my Dodger fandom was when he was traded away.
I think LA should find another toxic longer contract, and trade Kemp's 2/42 now for that just like they did here (such as a 3/48) and get lower annual average for next year's FA. Like house flipping

[Quake Griffin]

Darvish says he had a good meeting with the Cubs.


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[Ranma]

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