Poll: Are Talent Levels an Issue?

[mattynokes]

I think the biggest issue is veterans randomly dropping. A veteran who is consistently performing and isn't getting any severe injuries (6+ months) shouldn't be taking dives so up-and-coming prospects can take their rating slot. I've seen Merv Palmer (84 to 80), Jason Castro (87 to 83), Justin Upton (88 to 85 back to 87), Ryan Westmoreland (90 to 84), and now Nick Barnese (84 to 82) all drop in just two years. Neither has had any severe injuries. Westmoreland has had a few two week injury stints, but I wouldn't think the game is programmed to determine that as an injury drop since it wouldn't make sense realistically for two week injuries to hurt your skills. I think simply lowering the peaks per team would help a lot. Currently it seems like you should keep a player for his 6 years of team control and then let him go since it's dicey on if he'll have a random drop and you sure better not keep player north of 30 as they seem to drop like flies (and it doesn't seem like a decline reason). People shouldn't be afraid to sign guys in their early 30s to a 3 or 4 year deal. In the MLB today some of the bigger stars and more reliable players are in their mid 30s and that's a rarity here. Most players die once they hit 34.