NFBC Weekly Profile - Carl Borgatti

[Tom Kessenich]

The National Fantasy Baseball Championship’s unique Double Play format enabled owners a chance to double up on a national championship. If someone took a team in both the live draft and online draft events they could come away with a hefty $85,000 prize if they won the combined title.



Plenty of teams dove into the water hoping for a chance to reign supreme at the end of the year. But so far only one has been consistently sitting atop the standings this season.



Carl Borgatti knows there’s still a lot of action left to be played. But so far so good in his quest for the $85,000 grand prize.



“I took part in 10 drafts this year and when I reviewed all of them before the season I felt this team was my best,” he said. “But I did not expect to lead 827 other teams. It feels great getting out to a nice lead and I’d never complain about being in first but the season is very long and it is so hard to stay in front the whole time. I’d almost rather be in second or third with so many weeks left.”



No chance there as Borgatti’s team continues to hold a commanding lead in the event. And while Borgatti believed his team would be strong going into the season, he acknowledges that he’s had some good fortune thus far to have it placed at the top of the standings for so long.



“I’ve been very lucky so far in a couple of ways,” he said. “First, injuries have been relatively kind to my team. I’ve only had two players go on the injured list – Nelson Cruz and Andre Ethier. Ethier is already back and Cruz should be back by the end of the month. A good team can survive one or two players on the DL for a few weeks like this but anything more and it will have a significant impact on any team.



“I still expect injuries to hit my team harder at some point this year. My pitching depth is an issue and could catch up with me if I do not address it.



“Second, is that all three of my drafted closers are still closers and are still producing. My goal was to get one of the second-tier closers in Rounds 9-11 and then two lower-tier closers later in the draft and hope they all made it through the year. I got Heath Bell in the 10th, Octavio Dotel in the 14th and Matt Lindstrom in the 21st. Of the three, Bell was the only one I was targeting. Since all three are generating saves, I’ve not had to spend any FAAB dollars on relief pitchers.”



Going into the draft, Borgatti had a tried-and true plan in place, one he believed would position his team nicely for success during the season.



“I have a few basic rules that I try to follow throughout the draft and then within the draft I always look for the most talented players available that fit the plan,” he said. “I try to stick to the core rules but if I have a strong feeling about a player or the draft is going in a strange direction I’ll pick based solely on my gut even if it doesn’t fit the overall plan.”



This year, the plan worked well. Borgatti targeted offense early, wanting a top power hitter, a top stolen base threat and then looking at position scarcity. His plan enabled him to draft Evan Longoria in the first round, followed by Carl Crawford and Brian McCann. Overall, he selected five offensive players with his first six picks.



He then focused on pitching with the hope of snaring three of his Top 25 starters. Justin Verlander, Tommy Hanson and Ubaldo Jimenez were the three he drafted.



“Clearly, I was lucky Ubaldo was there in the eighth round,” Borgatti said. “I love him. I have him on three teams this year.”



Borgatti then wanted to fill out the Top 10 picks with the best offensive player available and one closer and then use the middle rounds to address any scarce pitchers as well as a sleeper or two. He then wanted to close out his draft by focusing on youth, including targeting some starters with upside as well as a minor leaguer who could be an impact player in the second half of the season. Buster Posey ended up being the player he snared in the 28th round to address that last requirement.



Borgatti’s plan has worked so well he has only dropped five players he drafted.



“That is not many for me as I tend to make a lot of moves,” he said.



Not everything has worked out perfectly, however. Rich Harden has been a disappointment, Eric Aybar hasn’t delivered and Jose Bautista has come up small as well. But overall his team has been strong and is off to an impressive start.



All of which begs the question – has he given any consideration to winning the $85,000 national prize?



“Of course,” he admitted. “A third of the season is over and I’ve been in the lead for a few weeks so I have no choice but to think about it. There is a lot of money to be won and the recognition would be nice, though I’m a fairly private and quiet guy as can be seen by my lack of posts on the message boards.



“But there really is so much time left in the season I can’t think about winning too much. I’m more concerned with making my team the best it can be week to week. I focus on finding free agents and starting the right players, which for some reason I’m usually much better at in football.



“I’d just like to be fighting for the championship when September rolls around. If that happens, I could very well become obsessed with winning. I’m probably boarderline already.”



A longtime fantasy player, Borgatti is aware the race to the finish line will be even more treacherous due to the high level of competition involved with the NFBC.



“The NFBC competition I’ve faced in the four years I’ve been playing has been top notch,” said the 43-year-old Borgatti, who joined the event in 2007 and finished 61st overall in his debut season. “This year is no different. During the draft I just felt things went the right way for me (but) all the owners had a plan and you could tell everyone had done their research as players were not slipping.



“I expected to be fighting with three or four other teams. I still expect at least one other team in my league to make a big push up the charts.”



Borgatti is married and lives in Forest Hills, New York with his wife Kitti and their daughter Claire. He is a certified project manager working in Manhattan for a company called HMS. While the NFBC features the biggest prize he’s competing for, it’s not the only league close to his heart.



“(In 1993) I joined a league with a few guys from work and a couple of friends from college,” he said. “The league is in its 18th year and seven of the 10 owners I played with my first year are still in the league.”



But while he’s aiming to win that league, there’s no question the NFBC Double Play title would be one he would forever cherish.



“I look forward to an exciting four months,” he said. “If my team can maintain its health I think I can be in the running at the end.”