So you have heard about these keeper leagues all around
our board here on RK. If you are wondering what these leagues are about,
and how to be successful in one, you will benefit from our keeper league
series. In this article we will discuss the differences between drafting,
trading and FA pickups for one-season leagues vs. keeper leagues. We
will also give some guidelines to help you run a keeper fantasy league
so that you may avoid some of the pitfalls that we have experienced
through the years.
We will begin with starting the league and compiling
the desired competitors, statistics, and settings that many of us have
found to be desirable. Our experience has shown that leagues that do
not deviate too far from the standard settings tend to draw the best
competitors and lengthen the time a league lasts. The standard fantasy
baseball categories are as follows:
- Offensive categories
- Runs
- Runs Batted In (RBI)
- Batting Average
- Home Runs
- Steals
- Pitching categories
- Strikeouts (K)
- Earned Run Average (ERA)
- Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched (WHIP)
- Wins
- Saves
Utilizing these categories as your core statistics is
recommended. Each keeper league commissioner has particular categories
that he finds intriguing or feels exhibits better fantasy ability. With
this in mind, the commissioner can choose the categories that will be
used for scoring. Some recent categories that have become regulars to
the qualifying statistics are Holds as a pitching category and on base
percentage (OBP) or on base plus slugging percentage (OPS). The ultimate
goal in designing a keeper league is to create a league that you feel
you will enjoy. But I would not recommend deviating too far from the
standard or you may find trouble filling the teams in your league.
Based on experience, leagues that have less than 10
managers tend to lack the competitive levels that larger leagues exhibit.
Leagues with only 6 or 8 managers have teams that mainly comprise of
superstars. Even in deep leagues (25+ players on the roster), the likelihood
of benefiting from the sleeper player, or free agent pickup of the year,
is slim. By having a league designed to have 12+ managers, the later
rounds of a draft become more important, and enrich the experience of
all the managers. If you are worried about filling the extra managers
that you didn't intend on having, post the league here on RK, you will
likely find managers who can provide a competitive league that you desire.
Now that you have the categories decided upon, and the
league size, now you must choose all the other settings of your league.
I found that including your fellow league members in the decision making
process could allow for a league that everyone feels is their own. You
want to set your innings pitched at a level that will allow managers
to use their pitchers freely without allowing some to overload on pitching.
1250 innings pitched to 1500 is a decent level of innings that will
allow for 5-6 SP at 180-200 IP each and 2-3 RP for another 60-100 IP
each. Use the usual 162 games for batting positions and make sure to
use the method you feel is best for trades. You can either use a voting
system that yahoo uses, or you can let the commissioner decide. Speak
with your managers and find out what is the consensus.
The number of keepers tends to be a point where people
have issues deciding. My personal recommendation is 20% of the overall
roster size. If you have a 30-man roster (max yahoo allows), then 6
is optimal. Too many keepers will prevent the lower teams from moving
back toward the top of the rankings. Too few keepers don't allow anyone
to create a base for their team. With only one or two keepers, the difference
between keepers won't make much of a difference going into the follow
season.
Now that we have a league set up, with managers who
are active and create a competitive atmosphere, you actually have to
draft and manage a team. Managing a keeper team has many similarities
to a single season league, with a few differences that will make or
break your team's success. Lets begin with the draft…
Fantasy managers
tend to focus on the young players who are available. You always want
to keep the future of your team in your considerations, as you are keeping
players, but don’t forget about single season value of players who are
30+ years old. Players like Jim Thome don’t have a ton of residual
value from one season to the next as he gets older, but a pick like
Thome makes the difference between the championship and 4th
place. You will see people reach for players like Felix Hernandez and
Delmon Young based on their potential and not the levels they will actually
perform at for the current season and even the year after. Target your
players that are young and you feel are worth where you want to draft
them. If people start going for younger talent, don’t reach too far
for a player that is not as valuable as what you can get from older
players. Make sure you keep this year in mind when drafting, do just
think of the future. If you keep thinking of the future, you will never
win in the current year.
Fantasy managers tend to focus on the young players
who are available. You always want to keep the future of your team in
your considerations, as you are drafting players, but don't forget about
single season value of players who are 30+ years old. Players like Jim
Thome don't have a ton of residual value from one season to the next
as he gets older, but a pick like Thome later in a draft makes the difference
between the championship and 4th place. You will see people reach for
players like Felix Hernandez and Delmon Young based on their potential
and not the levels they will actually perform for the current season
and even the year after. Target your players that are young and you
feel are good values where you want to draft them. If people start reaching
for younger talent, don't reach too far for a player who does not hold
as much value as what you can get from older more proven players. Make
sure you keep the current in mind when drafting, don't just think of
the future. If you keep thinking of the future, you will never win in
the current year.
Another facet to a keeper league is preparing your team
for the following seasons. If you can't manage to win in the current
season, and you realize this, start planning for the following season.
Maintaining a plan with your team is something that cannot be stressed
enough. By the time you get through ¾ through the season, you should
know whether you are competing for the championship or you need to look
to the future. Winners don't stumble upon a championship accidentally;
they plan for it, whether it is the current season, or the following
season. Set your goals and follow through with them. When going for
the championship, you can benefit from having a lot of young players
who are coveted by other managers. You will be able to get more value
for them as other teams begin to realize they cannot compete for the
championship. Players who have high perceived future value can gain
a manager high trade value. A championship may cost you a high potential
player, but the championship is more valuable. That player with a high
potential may not become that amazing 5-category contributor that everyone
projects. If you can taste the championship champagne (figuratively
speaking), then grab the gold this season instead of buying stock in
silver hoping it becomes more valuable than gold in the future.
This is also the point where managers who gear their
team for the future can take advantage of championship teams. Players
like Jermaine Dye and Roger Clemens two years ago, or Jim Thome last
season come to mind with this idea. They were players who contributed
at a high level for the season one was going for a championship, but
lacked high residual value past the present season. Teams going for
a championship may be familiar with players like this, with high present
value, but low future value. Their value is high for the championship
team, but rather low for a team who has no championship hopes since
they will not constitute one of their keeper caliber players. Teams
looking to the future should try to move these players with moderate
current value for players with lower current value but higher future
value.
Once you are at the championship level you want to balance
your goal for the championship this season with your goal to repeat
in future years. You may get great value for your young keepers who
can grab talent to increase your championship chances, but you don't
want to inhibit your chances too much for the following seasons. By
moving younger players you could greatly reduce the chances of returning
to the standings in future seasons. A balanced team of young and older
players will allow you to play out the season with a few moves to go
toward the championship or move forward to the following season.
In deep leagues you can truly use the free agent market
to gain a few high potential/low risk players. Unless you are competing
for the championship, it is likely you have a few roster spots that
are guys who will not help you in the future. Take advantage of these
roster spots and free agent market especially toward the end of the
year, when players are being given an opportunity during the roster
expansions. Find out which players may have a starting role the following
season, and put out a flier on them. Teams may be looking toward the
future and find their closer of the future while their young players
showcase themselves. I like to take advantage of the last day of transactions
to grab a few players that might have increased value as you move into
the following season.
That's the best advice I can put on paper without going
into such great detail that I would write a novel. I created a keeper
league 3 years ago that I stand as commissioner. There were a few struggles
during the beginning, but I am willing to bet the current managers who
went through it would agree it was worth it. If you have any particular
questions such as where to host a league, feel free to contact me via
PM here on Rotokingdom.net.
- Stephen Pavlik - RotoKingdom
Staff Writer
Steve
has been doing fantasy baseball for 4 years. He is commissioner of a highly
competitve league comprised of RotoKingdom's finest players and has finished
3rd or better each season. The University of Connecticut grad is highly
respected on the RK boards for his broad knowledge of baseball and the
excellent advice he provides to our readers.