Intro to keeper leagues?

[NYNY]

I'm experienced in your typical 5 x 5 mixed league format, but I'm intrigued with the idea of a keeper league. Can anybody give me a quick primer of what keeper leagues entail? What are the unique differences between specific keeper leagues and strategies involved with each? You don't have to go into great detail, but never playing in one of these leagues before, I'm very curious how it works.

Thanks in advance and look forward to hearing your responses.

[fast dogs]

Read an hours worth of posts in the Trade/Keeper section. you'll see theres just about every kind of setup imaginable. Some leagues you get to retain them based on what round they were drafted. Some leagues you get a couple keepers, some leagues you get to return most of your team.Length of contracts also plays a big part in some setups.Many leagues you have seperate minors roster.
In general, young players are much higher sought after & older players lesser interest than single season leagues.You play 'em 1 year at a time, but you always have an eye toward next year as well.Welcome to keeperville, you'll love it here

[neoforce]

Fast Dogs said it well, there are tons of options/choices.

What i love about the keeper format is that when your team stinks it can be just as great planning for next year as it is competing for the championship. You get lots of trading as teams dump for next year as others try to go for it in the current year.

With the right rules to ensure balance and a good group of guys, keeper leagues can be incredibly competitive and stable. I'm in a league that has been around for 20 years, I joined about five years ago.

[NYNY]

Thanks. How would your strategy change with these different variations? Let's say you can only keep a few players. Who do you keep and why? What about leagues where you keep the majority of your players? I realize every league has its own kinks, but I'm looking for general guidelines since it's still pretty foreign to me.

[fast dogs]

if you only keep a few players, you are going to want to make some sort of 2-1 deal to a contender to secure a better keeper for next year. The contender who might needs saves & steals to help him win this year will give up a better player if he thinks he can win now. In a situation where you might keep more players you would't need to zero in so much on a top 40 or 50 player. In keeper leagues you always have the contending teams weighing their chances this year vs giving up a better player that the out-of-contention covets.
Lets say your 14 team league keeps 3 players, you are only going to want to trade for top 40ish players. You might trade a top 50 & a top 60 player for a top 30 keeper. The contender gets 2 good players, you get 1 better keeper.

[NYNY]

In a situation where you might keep more players you wouldn't need to zero in so much on a top 40 or 50 player.

Understanding everything else, but why is this?

[NYNY]

Is it safe to say most keeper leagues fall in the categories of limited keeper (five player or less), dynasty (mostly keeping all), contract keeper (arbitrary contract lengths, no cap) and salary cap (auction, etc)? I'm mostly looking for the different variations.

[fast dogs]

In a situation where you might keep more players you wouldn't need to zero in so much on a top 40 or 50 player.

Understanding everything else, but why is this?

I was just saying there would be more players that would have alot of value in keepers where you had more #'s. If you kept 7 players instead of 3, you wouldn't want to always trade a top 50 & 60 guy because now you'll need those guys to fill out your 7. In a 3 keeper league only the top 42 more or less are important. In a 7 player, its 100

[NYNY]

I get it. Thanks for your patience with me. It certainly makes sense.

I'm getting the sense that most keepers fall in the following categories:

Traditional keepers -- Dynasty leagues (keeping all or most of your roster) and Limited keeper leagues (set number of players, around five or less retained)

Contract keeper - keeping particular players for a certain number of years without a cap

Dollar value keeper - usually with an auction and a salary cap

There's also variables like losing a draft pick based on where your keeper was selected, that kind of thing, but I guess there are quirks in every league.

Do you think this is accurate? I'm trying to decide which league I'd like to try.

[kab21]

I think one thing to remember is that at least 75% of a players value should be based on what he will do next season. ARod is still more valuable than Justin Upton (whom I covet) in keeper leagues.

Another thing to remember is that in leagues with fewer than 10 keepers you can rebuild pretty much in one offseason with a couple of trades and a good draft. Don't go overboard in rebuilding by dropping Lance berkman to keep Matt LaPorta or something like that.