Manny will mentor Cubs' top prospects

SAN DIEGO -- Some of the Cubs top prospects are at Triple-A Iowa.

Shortstop Javier Baez, 21, second baseman Arismendy Alcantara, 22, and third baseman Christian Villanueva, 22, are some of the charges Ramirez, who was hired by the Cubs Sunday morning to be a player coach for the Cubs' Iowa affiliate, will be asked to mold as a hitting coach.

"Manny's going to be around some of our top hitting prospects," Epstein told a group of Cubs beat writers Sunday. "It's relatively low risk for us. It's something that if it doesn't go well, we can terminate. I think it will go well. It's important."