How many keepers is best

[cnasty]

What would u guys say is the best number of keepers and years for a new fantasy keeper league

[commence8]

I'm not gonna give a number, because that depends on a lot of things. However, I'll suggest that you start small, and increase the number of keepers while you go on.

[Matthias]

Agreed that you should keep the # small. I don't like # of years as it's arbitrary... just put in an escalating system that it costs teams more per year and let them decide how long to keep someone.

[BALCO All-Stars]

We run two keeper leagues where you can keep "any two" then keep two players drafted in the 10th round or later...let's each team keep two studs (potentially for a long time) and two guys they took later in the draft.

But again, it's completely up to the individual league. I'm also in a NL-Only league in which have to keep 7-10 players, contracts are involved, extensions, etc, etc, etc...so it's up to the league.

[FBL Commish]

Our league is totally based on Contract Years. We allow 8 per year. If you want to sign 8 guys for 1 year, go ahead. If you want to sign 1 for 8 years, that's cool. If you choose the latter, you will only have 1 Contract Year to dole out next year. Most guys spend 6 years on 6 guys and 2 on one. This system refreshes the studs (almost) every year. Important: Once a guy is given a contract, that contract MAY NOT be adjusted. No extensions. We want the studs back in the pool.

My retention list looks like this:
Rollins - 3 Years (Drafted in 2007, given the deal going into the 2008 season)
Manny - 1 Year (The last year of his 2 Year deal, drafted in 2006, given the deal going into the 2007 season)
Beltran - 1 Year (The last year of his 2 Year deal, drafted in 2006, given the deal going into the 2007 season)
Atkins - 2 Years (The middle year of a 3 year deal, drafted in 2006, given the deal going into the 2007 season)
Hughes - 1 Year (Drafted in 2008)

That's 8 years...Manny, Beltran and Hughes MUST go into the draft in 2009.