Rotoman: I’ve read/heard that you should not draft serpentine fashion in keeper leagues. What is the common practice/method of drafting in keeper leagues that are not auctions.
As far as I’m concerned, the serpentine draft order is the most fair to all teams. For those of you who haven’t heard that term, these are also known as windshield wiper drafts, in which teams pick from 1-10 and then 10-1.
The only reason not to pick in serpentine fashion would be if you were trying to give some edge to the teams that pick earlier in each round. In the American Dreams League we establish a reserve draft (after the 276 AL players have been taken in auction) order based on last year’s standings, with fifth place taking the first reserve, then sixth, then seventh, etc, then fourth through first. And the order stays the same for nine rounds.
Why? Because it gives some slight edge to the teams that didn’t finish in the money the previous year.
In a draft to stock teams, however, the edge to the teams that select earliest in each round would be huge. Keeper league, non-keeper league, I can’t think of a reason why you would want not to go serpentine.