CHICAGO -- Manny being Manny has been a positive so far for the Chicago Cubs. Brandon Brooks Jersey . President of baseball operations Theo Epstein praised Manny Ramirez on Friday for his work with the Cubs minor leaguers in Arizona, and said the former major league star could join Triple-A Iowa next week. Ramirez signed a minor league deal in May and reported to the teams facility in Mesa to get some at-bats in extended spring training. When Ramirez moves to Iowa, he will be a player-coach for Chicagos top farm club. "Ive gotten unsolicited emails and texts from a lot of the staff down there saying that hes been a breath of fresh air and the best thing that ever happened to the kids down in Mesa," Epstein said before the Cubs 6-3 victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. "So Im really pleased with the impact hes making on the organization. "Probably sometime next week that hes ready to go to Iowa, but were not in a rush because hes making an impact with the young kids down there who are getting their first taste of pro ball as well as guys like Jorge Soler, who are there rehabbing. Mannys been a really nice influence so far." The 42-year-old Ramirez is a .312 hitter with 555 home runs in 2,302 games covering 19 major league seasons. But the Cubs brought him in to serve as a mentor for some of their young players and insist he is not a candidate for a promotion to the major league club. The addition of Ramirez was a bit of a gamble for Epstein, who was the general manager in Boston when the enigmatic slugger helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 and 2007. Ramirez was suspended for 50 games in 2009 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers after testing positive for a banned drug. He retired in April 2011 instead of serving a 100-game ban for a second positive test while with Tampa Bay, but later agreed to a reduced 50-game suspension and played in the minors for Oakland in 2012. He also has been criticized in the past for lackadaisical play, but Epstein thinks he can be a valuable teacher for Chicagos rich minor league system. "Hes been meeting with the young kids there daily, pulling them aside, talking about hitting, talking about not making some of the same mistakes that he made off the field, really keeping them focused on working hard and having a passion for the game and doing things the right way," Epstein said. When Ramirez gets to Iowa, he will get a chance to work one of the majors best prospects in third baseman Kris Bryant. The No. 2 overall selection in last years draft hit .355 with 20 homers in 68 games with Double-A Tennessee, and then belted a two-run shot in his debut with Iowa on Thursday night. The promotion to Triple-A means Bryant is just one step away from joining the Cubs, but Epstein made it sound as if that would be next season at the earliest. "I dont forsee a scenario where hed be up this year," he said. "I dont think its the right thing to do for someone in his first full professional season, barring extraordinary circumstances both in respect to the player and whats going on at the big league club." Epstein also is pleased with what he has seen so far from this years first-round pick, Kyle Schwarber. The No. 4 overall selection from Indiana University was quickly promoted from Chicagos short-season Class A affiliate in Boise, Idaho, to Single-A Kane County. There is some question about whether Schwarber will play catcher or left field in the pros, but it looks as if that decision can wait for now. "We decided this year, his first exposure to pro ball, were going to have him see a lot of time in left field, let him catch about once a week, maybe twice a week, so he can stay fresh with his catching, DH some so that he can keep his bat in the lineup when he needs a day off," Epstein said. "Then were going to sit down at the end of the minor league season and see whether its an appropriate time to make a call." Jalen Mills Jersey .Simon will work with head coach Gord Dineen and associate coach Derek King behind the bench of the Toronto Maple Leafs American Hockey League affiliate for the 2014-15 season. Zach Ertz Jersey . And on Sunday against the Houston Astros they were pleased to see his work finally pay off with his first win since May 24. http://www.theeaglesfootballauthentic.com/eagles-jordan-hicks-black-jersey/ .com) - Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is set to return Tuesday against Nashville after sitting out the past two games because of a minor upper body injury.DENVER - Nate Robinson serenaded his teammate with a song in the locker room, rapping and rhyming about J.J. Hicksons big game. Only fitting, since the Denver Nuggets were marching to Hicksons beat all night. Hickson had 19 points and 11 rebounds and the Nuggets overcame a slow start to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 102-93 Sunday night. Last season, Hickson was a double-double machine for Portland, ranking among the league leaders with 40. This was only his sixth of the season for Denver. "Weve been teasing J.J. a lot: Where are all those double-doubles from last year? Because we need them this year," Robinson said. "I know theyre going to come. "Once we get it rolling, its going to be dangerous; its going to be scary for teams to play us." Especially if they can jump out to faster starts. Once again, the Nuggets took a while to get going on offence and had to play catch-up. But they did and were able to pull away late. No big deal, since its more about how a team finishes than starts, right? "Its how you start," Ty Lawson said, grinning. "We get in such a hole in the first quarter and its hard to come back and have energy in the fourth." Wilson Chandler added 19 to help the Nuggets bounce back from a rare home loss on Friday. Theyre 7-3 at Pepsi Center this season after going a franchise-best 38-3 in 2012-13. Ryan Anderson scored 26 and Austin Rivers chipped in a season-high 17 for the Pelicans, who began a five-game road swing. They were without guard Tyreke Evans, who was sitting out due to a sprained left ankle. "We just didnt have the same juice tonight that weve had in a lot of games," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "Guys missed shots. We had a lot of open looks, but we just didnt make good shots." This game was tight most of the way, with neither team able to pull away. The Nuggets went on an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter to gain a little separation, leading 71-62 after a pair of free throws by Lawson. The Pelicans could never slice into the deficit. Jordan Hamilton put an exclamation on the win with dunks on back-to-back possessions late in the fourth quarter. Thee Nuggets once again received solid production from their bench players, with Robinson leading the way by scoring 14. Herman Edwards Jersey. . The reserves are averaging 45.3 points, third best in the NBA. "Our job is to make it hard for them (starters) in practice, to give them the best look that any other starting five in the league is going to give them," Robinson explained. "We take pride in that." As has become the recent trend, Denver trailed after the first quarter, trailing 27-24. This was the eighth straight game in which Denver has fallen behind after the opening 12 minutes. Fed up with his teams slow starts, coach Brian Shaw has done some investigating to fix it. He and his staff examined what the players were eating in pregame meals, whether they were getting proper rest leading up to tip off and even changed their stretching routine. The first-year head coach even put his players on notice that he was thinking about switching up the starting lineup. But he stayed with his familiar starting crew against the Pelicans. Still, it was another frosty start as Denver fell behind 8-0 before the players had time to work up a sweat. "The first bucket and then four, six, eight (points), you start to think about it," Lawson said. "Its like, Oh, were starting off slow again. We try to put it out of our heads." The Nuggets had a spirited practice on Saturday, with Shaws guards hardly missing a shot, he reported. That was quite a contrast to a 103-93 loss to Utah on Friday, when Randy Foye and Lawson went a combined 0 for 9 from the field. Shaw even challenged the speedy Lawson to step up, saying: "As the point guard of this team and a guy on the cusp of becoming an All-Star level player, you cant allow what happened to our team happen to our team." Lawson received the message, dishing out eight assists and scoring 12 points. "The challenge he gave us was crazy," Lawson said. "Got to respond to that. We all took it to heart. We had to get better and we did." NOTES: The Pelicans had just six fast-break points. They came in averaging 17.4, which was second in the league. ... The Nuggets outrebounded the Pelicans 51-32. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Camo China NFL Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Cheap Jerseys From China ' ' '