Topes Go International in Draft

Springfield (AP) - Now that the Topes have finally won their first NASBL championship, GM Doug Sherlag has a new mandate from ownership - "Expand the Brand". "Expand the Brand is a mandate that was passed on to me from our ownership contingent, and it did effect the bulk of our off-season decsions," said Sherlag. "Expand the Brand means adding personnel to the Topes that serve the dual-purpose of improving our team, and that also have a geographic connection to areas in which the Springfield Isotopes do not have a large fan base, primarily internationally, along with certain key demographics of the United States."

The Topes draft can be broken down as follows, geographically:
Korea - Shin-Soo Choo (1st), Chan Ho Park (13th)
Dominican Republic - Cristian Guzman (4th), Carlos Gomez (8th)
Venezuela - Ramon Hernandez (9th), Omar Infante (9th), Cesar Izturis (10th)
United States - Jacoby Ellsbury (2nd), Ian Stewart (3rd), Jeff Bennett (6th), Matt Lincoln (10th), Jarrod Washburn (11th), David Murphy (12th)

The foreign born players drafted clearly adhere to the new corporate mandate, but what of the US players drafted? "Jacoby Ellsbury was an important addition to our squad due to the fear that we may have alienated our Boston fans after C.C. and A.J. decided to play for the hated New York ballclub in the NASBL off-season. Ian should bring in some fans from Denver, however I dropped the ball when I drafted Jeff Bennett. I thought he was Australian when I made the pick," admitted Sherlag.

When asked if Topes fans should be concerned that talent may have been secondary when drafting players, Sherlag said, "Listen, in this economy fans have to realize that we need to find additional ways to bring in revenue so we can maintain the salaries of guys like Lance and C.C. and make sure that they spend their entire careers with the Topes. If we may have taken a guy a round too early because of his nationality, fans will understand as long as we remain competitive on the field."