Keeper Rules
League Overview
- 10 teams, 10-player rosters
- Max 5 keepers per team per season
- Max 10 Keeper Credits per team per season
First Year Kept
Player was drafted, picked up as a free agent, or traded to this team the prior season (no prior keeper history with this team). Traded players who were drafted last year use the original draft round cost — as if the keeping team drafted them.
| Draft Round / Acquisition | Keeper Cost |
|---|---|
| Round 1 | 5 |
| Round 2–3 | 3 |
| Round 4–6 | 2 |
| Round 7–10 | 1 |
| Round 11+ or Free Agent | 0 |
Second+ Year Kept (Same Team)
Player has been kept by this team for at least one prior season.
- Pre-Rank Tier Cost — same bracket as First Year Kept above, based on original draft round
- K Penalty — number of consecutive years kept by the same team
Example: A Round 3 pick kept for 3 consecutive years → Cost = 3 (tier) + 3 (penalty) = 6
Traded keepers: A player who was already kept one or more seasons and then traded is appraised at their pre-rank tier cost + carried K Penalty (not reset).
Exceptions
- ⚠Injury (before Week 7): No K Penalty increment added for that season.
- ⚠Dropped + re-added (same team): Service time is unchanged.
- ↓Dropped + new team before All-Star break: Half pre-rank cost, K Penalty resets to 0.
- →Dropped + new team after All-Star break: Full pre-rank cost, K Penalty resets to 0.
Draft Slots
Draft Order
Reverse of prior season standings. The bottom four finishing teams are placed into a random lottery.
First-Year Keepers (assessed off draft value)
The keeper occupies the same round they were drafted in last year, with a minimum of round 15. Free agents also default to round 15.
- Drafted in round 3 last year → occupies your 3rd round pick
- Drafted in round 20 last year → occupies your 15th round pick
- Free agent → occupies your 15th round pick
Multiple keepers stacking at round 15+: sorted by cost, placed on consecutive rounds. E.g., a round 19 draftee and a free agent → the round 19 guy takes your 15th round pick, the FA takes your 16th.
Second-Year+ Keepers (assessed by Pre-Rank)
The keeper occupies whichever round their Pre-Rank falls into. A Pre-Rank of 27 means they occupy your 3rd round pick (Yahoo locks this in automatically).
Multiple keepers in the same round: if two players share the same Pre-Rank round, they stack down on consecutive rounds in order of cost. E.g., two players both valued at a 3rd round cost → they occupy your 3rd and 4th round picks.
Acquisition Types
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Keeper | Carried over from prior season as a keeper |
| Draft R[N] | Drafted in round N of the prior season's draft |
| FA | Picked up as a free agent during the prior season |
| Trade (Draft R[N]) | Traded to this team; originally drafted in round N in the prior season |
| Trade (Keeper) | Traded to this team; was already a multi-year keeper |