valuable keeper league strategy I don't hear much about

[duckbillgates]

I was just fretting over my final keeper for the 10,000th time, when something dawned on me.
Why do most keeper questions here tend to not take into consideration what other teams are keeping?
For the past couple of years in my keeper league, I've printed up the full league roster and pored over each team, trying to anticipate their keepers.
Granted, there is always someone who stretches and keeps an unproven prospect or an aging vet who is a shell of his former self, so it isn't exact.
But the exercise provides some great info that can be very useful in chosing your own keeper and getting a jump on draft strategy.
Some examples from my league:
• I project that up to 10 first basemen will be protected, meaning I don't have to worry about protecting a bubble guy or drafting my 1B early.
• I project that quite a few second-tier type third basemen will be available, giving me pause in keeping my 3B when I may be able to improve on him on draft day.
• Most anchor-type starters will likely be protected, meaning I should be careful about leaving the top pitcher on the board.
• Based on our league rules, a few managers have some major keeper predictaments and may be ripe for trade offers, e.g. one guy has both Lidge and Street, another has Rollins and Pheralta both at SS, another has Wright and M. Cabrera both at 3B.
The specifics of my league don't really matter. The point is that often managers only take their own team into consideration when picking their keepers.
While that is obviously the most important factor in who you keep (since it determines who you CAN keep), there can be a lot of really useful info from projecting everyone's keepers. This info can actually help you make a decision on your own keepers, predict draft day trends and help you find the guys in the early rounds of your draft who should have been protected.
Anyone else have experience with this?

[Grouperman941]

All my rankings/ratings/projections spreadsheets include the player's team in my league. I rate/rank all players. Then I can sort by team and pretty easily see who the keepers should be in my own opinion.

I definitely look at the draft order and what positions might be kept. If all 3 draft picks ahead of me have top SSs, I can be fairly sure to get my SS back if I want him, for example.

[teddyballgamemvp]

another has Wright and M. Cabrera both at 3B.

He can count M-Cab as an OFer.

[Music2004Man]

I totally agree with what you are saying here. As you look at keepers it is very important to try and figure out what other people are keeping. If you don't have a third basemen or your having a tough time figuring out if you want to keep your guy see what else is going to be available at that position. Sometimes you can't guess what people are going to do though. I had a guy in my league pegged at keeping Andruw Jones and he ended up taking Coco Crisp instead? Jones scored 520 pts last year with Crisp at 424. Even with a slight regression from Jones and improved skills from Crisp it still doesn't make up for the difference.

[GotowarMissAgnes]

I definitely agree with you, and that's one reason why I don't participate as much in the Keeper/Trade etc. forum. In Keeper and trade situations, I want to know a LOT more about your team and other teams. It's very difficult, IMO, to give a good answer without knowing the answer to some of the questions you raise.

[GotowarMissAgnes]

I definitely agree with you, and that's one reason why I don't participate as much in the Keeper/Trade etc. forum. In Keeper and trade situations, I want to know a LOT more about your team and other teams. It's very difficult, IMO, to give a good answer without knowing the answer to some of the questions you raise.

[The Loveable Losers]

I'm new to keeper leagues and definitely want to thank you for this bit of advice. It certainly wouldn't have affected my draft in my first year taking over my team (the team was pretty weak and I mortgaged my 2006 season heavily to create a solid core of young keepers and an outstanding farm team) but it will definitely come into play for me for next year.