First Time Keeper League: Advice Please!

[StartOrien]

Hey guys,

Me and my friends are setting up a keeper league and none of us have really done one yet. So I'm looking for some advice

My main questions is;
in keeper leagues, do you guys keep a limit on how long you can keep a player? It seems a bit unfair to me that someone in the league could have Lebron for the next 15 years. And I also think there's a fairly big drop off in players similar to that.

Anyways, any words of advice would be helpful. I'm shamefully dumbfounded.

[Redz]

There are a bunch of ways to go.  Depends on how involved you want to get.  I've been running a keeper roto league for going on 15 years now (man, that's crazy to think about!).  We use salaries and contracts.  Players get a 2 years contract with the option to reup at the end of 2 years for an increased salary, or you can opt to let the player "play out his option" the 3rd year knowing he's going to become a free agent.  It's pretty involved and it's taken us a really longtime to find the right system, but it's working really well now.

I can give you details if you're interested.  Not sure how involved you want league to be though.

[StartOrien]

I'd love to get real involved, my only thing is that is our first year and I'm not 100% sold on everyone's commitment. We have a real strong core and I've played fantasy basketball w/ most of these guys in the past, but again never keepers.

So I think the best option for us to start would be something somewhat simple to follow, but again, a way to somehow limit the years a player could be on a team. The only thought I had would be that you could keep a player the same amount of years you picked him (with a max of 4). But I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work.

[Redz]

I'm a big fan of having some kind of salary or contract system.  A simple one I've used in a baseball league is:

Each player starts with a $1 salary.  If you keep a player his salary goes up a $1.  Set a cap for the start of a season however you like.

Say your cap is $15

If Lebron's gone five years without entering the draft again he's $6 to keep. Meaning you can keep your good guys but it will cost you. There are a bunch of variables you can add to that system, but it's a simple one that adds weight to keepers.

[StartOrien]

tp! thanks a lot redz, i really like that one