Fantasy Baseball Keeper League Strategy

Keeper Leagues - Additional Strategy Involved

A keeper fantasy baseball league can provide fun for years and years.  By setting up a keeper league, you add an additional element of strategy to fantasy baseball.  Now, you're drafting players for potential multi-year time horizons.  Furthermore, selecting who you will keep on your roster going into the next season is one of the more crucial strategic decisions you will make.

Two Different Keeper League Setups

1. Auction keeper leagues - In an auction format, each player is assigned a dollar value.  You will have a budget, and when you draft a player, you pay for that player out of your budget.  For example, Albert Pujols might go for $50 but Raul Ibanez might go for $5.  It depends on your league since you're bidding for players against the other teams in your league.  When you keep players, you factor in how much you paid for them.  This will impact your budget the following year.
2. Draft position keeper leagues - The other format, the emphasis is on the round drafted for a particular player.  For example, if you keep Dustin Pedroia, and you picked him in the third round, you lose your third round pick the following year.
   

There are a number of factors that will impact your decisions on what players to keep for the next year.  The following are some of them:

1. Performance
2. Age
3. How much you paid or what round you drafted him in
4. Position scarcity
5. Your team's strengths or weaknesses

Using Value To Determine Keepers

I'm a value guy.  I like to keep the players who I believe are the best value for the price.  For example, this year in my keeper league, I kept the following players:

1. Justin Upton (drafted in 18th round)
2. Derek Jeter (drafted in 9th round)
3. Dan Haren (drafted in 6th round)

All three players have average draft positions much better than the "price" I paid for them.  Justin Upton is a 2nd or 3rd round player and I have him locked in as an 18th rounder.  You can't find much better value than that.

Contrast this with a team that kept Mark Teixeira and Dustin Pedroia as 1st and 2nd round picks and you will see the difference.

Obviously, you have to factor in production.  You need your team to produce, so keeping average players just because you drafted them late isn't the best startegy.  Find the best mix of high quality players at great value and you should build a fanastic team for your keeper league.