Different Keeper League Ideas?

[Newkie]

I would like to get some keeper league setups that people out there impliment in their own leagues. I am in a traditional league where you just pick a number of keepers and those are the players you take into the upcoming season.
Now I am in a second keeper league where the commish wants to just keep players picked in the 5th round or later?
One of the managers in that same league has a method in one of his leagues that establishes what keeper round you get the following season by which round you keep a player in the present yr?
Any other methods appreciated and does anybody play in those types just mentioned?

Thanks

[Trojan Pony]

My leagues use the "5th round or later" approach and on the whole, we like it. Keeps most of the elite talent in the draft so teams that are already good can't just stack up and dominate year to year. I would recommend it.

[Carnac]

Our keeper league uses 4th round or later. Seems like a good idea to keep interest up and elite talent available.

[Matthias]

Well, it depends if you want simple or if you want things really fair.

If you want simple you can do one of:
* No players can be kept that are drafted before Round X (4, 5, whatever).
* You can keep anyone but you have to forfeit the draft pick of any players you keep, so if you keep your 1st-round draft choice, you have to give up your 1st-round pick in this year's draft.

If you want things to be really fair, you can do things that are more complicated.
* You can do a system like the second choice above, but you can keep increasing the round that a player counts for the longer you keep them, so you could (for example) increase by 1 round the first year they're kept, 3 (additional) rounds the second year they're kept, 4 (additional) rounds the third year they're kept, and then five (additional) rounds every year after that. And then if their round goes to or below zero, you can't keep them.
* You can do a system where you do straight increases, say 2 or 3 round increases every year, but you can only keep a certain number of players from every draft range... something like 1 player from rounds 1-3, 1 player from rounds 4-7, a player from rounds 8-11, and 1 player after round 12.

You can get even more complicated than that (I developed once a player value system for someone) but those would be the most common ideas.

So it depends on what you're looking for.

[thehusband]

How many "keepers" are there usually?
My League is contemplating a max of 9.
You would have to give up your first 9 picks in the draft.

[Trojan Pony]

I don't really see the point in a system like that. Why even bother having keepers? If you have to sacrifice a 5th round pick to keep a 5th round guy, why not just draft him?

As I said earlier, I'm a big fan of keeping the top 50 or 60 players from the previous season's draft off limits... prevents teams from getting too stacked and puts a lot more value on keeping up-and-coming players rather than established studs. There's still a LOT of talent after the first 4 or 5 rounds of a draft.

I also like, in theory, the idea of a sliding scale, such as having to sacrifice the previous season's round +3 to keep a player. For example, if you took Jay Bruce in the 11th or something, you would have to spend your 8th round pick on him this year to keep him. And then as soon as a player gets up into the top 3 rounds they can't be kept anymore. Something like that was suggested to me by someone else and I like the idea of it but don't really have any hands-on experience with it.

[thehusband]

Thanks for the feedback.
[quote="Trojan Pony"]I don't really see the point in a system like that. Why even bother having keepers? If you have to sacrifice a 5th round pick to keep a 5th round guy, why not just draft him?

"He" might not be there in round 5.

What do you think about losing the round you picked your keeper in?
I'm thinking, if you have to declare keepers after your draft, you are in essence giving these guys a 2 yr. contract.(guaranteed/no cut)

[Matthias]

How many "keepers" are there usually?
My League is contemplating a max of 9.
You would have to give up your first 9 picks in the draft.

Nine is too many. Try 3-5.