MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves hired former Washington Wizards executive Milt Newton as general manager Friday, with new president of basketball operations Flip Saunders tabbing a familiar face to help him reshape the franchises front office. Pavel Zacha Devils Jersey . Newton spent the previous 10 years with the Wizards, most recently serving as vice-president of player personnel. He worked closely with Saunders when Saunders was the head coach for the Wizards, and quickly became a prime candidate to make the move to Minnesota when Saunders took over this summer for the fired David Kahn. "I have followed Milt closely during his career and have always been impressed with his basketball knowledge, work ethic and professionalism," Saunders said in a statement issued by the team. "His front-office experience in the NBA, as well as his ability to combine analytics evaluation with his basketball playing and scouting background will greatly benefit our organization." Saunders will continue to have final say on all organizational issues with the Wolves. But Newton will help with scouting, salary cap management, trade talks and other personnel issues. Rob Babcock also is expected to receive a greater role in scouting and personnel decisions as Saunders works to install some infrastructure in the basketball operations department. Kahn spent the last two years of his four-year stay in Minnesota without an official general manager. The lack of a defined structure beneath Kahn in the front office led to confusion and inefficiency at times, and Saunders said when he was hired that establishing a more organized staff was one of his priorities. Newton got in on the ground floor while the NBA Development League was established, something that appealed to Saunders, who takes great pride in his time as a coach and executive in the old CBA. Newton, whose wife went to high school in the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka, also has worked for the Philadelphia 76ers and USA Basketball. "Milt possesses an extraordinary skill set that is a great fit for the Timberwolves organization," NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement issued by the Wolves. "His exceptional work ethic and basketball acumen played a large role in the launch and success of the NBA Development League. I am extremely pleased for Milt and the Timberwolves who will no doubt benefit from the tremendous experience he brings to their front office." Jesper Bratt Jersey . He was with the New York Jets in 2011 when the NFL locked out their players after they failed to agree on a new contract. Willy went undrafted but was given a look by four NFL teams before heading north. Kyle Palmieri Jersey .Mallais and his team out of Saint John defeated James Grattan 5-4 in Fredericton.The 2015 Tim Hortons Brier from Feb. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-taylor-hall-devils-jersey/ . - The Detroit Lions have placed tight end Brandon Pettigrew on injured reserve, ending his season. NEW YORK -- Rather than ban home plate collisions outright, Major League Baseball and its players adopted a rule limiting them this season. In what both sides said was a one-year experiment, the rule allows collisions if the catcher has the ball and is blocking the runners direct path to home plate, and if the catcher goes into the basepath to field a throw to the plate. "Its not a radical departure from what it had been," Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon said. The new rule, 7.13, states "a runner attempting to score may not deviate from his direct pathway to the plate in order to initiate contact with the catcher (or other player covering home plate)." A runner violating the rule shall be declared out, even if the fielder drops the ball. "Its good, I think it takes away the malicious intent behind the play at the plate," Texas Rangers catcher J.P. Arencibia said. "Obviously the runner doesnt always have to slide, and the catcher still has the ability to block the plate once he has the ball in hand." Along with the rule, the sides agreed to a pair of comments umpires use for interpretation. The first comment says "the failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runners lowering of the shoulder, or the runners pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation." The comment says players who slide appropriately are not in violation of the rule. The second comment says that "unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score." The runner shall be declared safe if the catcher violates that provisiion. Scott Stevens Jersey. In addition, it is not a violation "if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in order to field a throw, and the umpire determines that the catcher could not have fielded the ball without blocking the pathway of the runner and that contact with the runner was unavoidable." "There are some things that often times can make the water a little muddy," union head Tony Clark said after meeting with the New York Yankees. "Over the course of the off-season, the concern was protecting players, but trying to draw up something that not only made sense on paper, but also was going to make sense to the players that were playing on the field." The umpire crew chief can use the new video-review system to determine whether the rule was violated. "It stops guys just going out of their way just to try to dislodge the baseball when they (catchers) have the plate," Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said. Debate over plate collisions has intensified since May 2011, when San Franciscos Buster Posey was injured as the Marlins Scott Cousins crashed into him at the plate. Posey, an All-Star catcher, sustained a broken bone in his lower left leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle, an injury that ended his season. In Game 5 of last years AL championship series, Detroit backstop Alex Avila was pulled a couple of innings after being run over at the plate by Bostons David Ross, a fellow catcher. "I think its fair. A runners path is to home plate," Oakland catcher Derek Norris said. "Any deviation and hes not trying to score, hes trying to harm. A runner going out of the basepath trying to break up a double play is declared out. This is the same concept as a double-play slide." ' ' '