10 Team NL Keeper League with modified rules needs 1 owner
NL American Association Team 3 has been orphaned going into the 2025 season.
What makes us different:
When a player is drafted he is tagged with an expiration date. He must go back into the draft pool after a maximum of 3 seasons.
We limit the number of “veteran” keepers to 6 per team/per season.
We believe that limiting the number of keepers and the length an owner can hold a player promotes better competition. It keeps the pre-season draft pool stocked with better players, making it more important (and fun). Leagues that retain 10-12 everyday players and/or have no expiration usually get very unbalanced very quickly. This results in the same few teams winning every year with numerous people giving up and quitting.
Keeping fewer veteran players and eventually losing them to contract expirations, mimic the state of baseball. We are trying to challenge each owner to build and maintain a competitive club using realistic parameters.
If a player is traded, the length of time remaining on his American Association contract is also traded. When you consider a trade, you must factor how long you can control that player. Are you willing to give up a good player (or 2) with 2.5 years of control, for a superior “go for it this season” player whose contract expires at year end?
In addition to the 6 veteran players, we have keeper provisions for “Prospects/Rookies” (defined as no more than ML 130/AB or 50/IP) and a group of “tweeners” we call “Super 2” players (defined as career 250/AB or 95/IP).
In total, you will protect between 6 and 10 players. In addition to the 6 veterans you keep, we allow owners to keep up to 4 more players who qualify as Prospect/Rookie/Super 2 players. Of these 4, you could use all 4 slots on Prospect/Rookie players, or mix and match in a maximum of 2 Super 2 players.
The first 6 rounds are used to keep your veterans. Our draft starts with Round 7. Super 2 players can be kept in lieu of Round 17/20 (11 rounds after keepers). Rookies can be retained in lieu of rounds 27/28/30/31.
We have monthly Supplemental Drafts. You may add up to 3 new players per draft, but you must cut 3 players in order to do so. This prevents stockpiling and encourages more interaction/trades.
Each owner is attempting to build a winning organization by developing a sustainable core that is constrained by expiration dates through solid drafting and smart trades, by identifying/retaining impact prospects/rookies, while balancing the lost value of the roster spot it takes to retain players not contributing to the current season.
There are other minor rules and nuances not included above but these are the core principles. If you are interested, please contact me. I am happy to answer your questions and will provide the current league rosters with expiration dates for all the players.