Ratings

[bk7987]

I've posted this in a number of bug/impression threads, but have yet to get a response.

I don't even think it's a bug, really...but it's making me curious.

Anyway, player "letter" ratings for Contact, Power, Speed, etc seem to be, as a whole, lower this year.

Looking at some concrete examples:

'09 Chase Utley: "B" Contact and "B" Power and "C" Speed
'10 Chase Utley: "C" Contact and "C" Power and "D" Speed

'09 Albert Pujols: "A" Contact and "A" Power
'10 Albert Pujols: "A" Contact and "B" Power

Now, the ACTUAL ratings aren't any different. The bars are pretty much the same as last year--it just seems that the threshold for attaining any given "letter grade" has been raised.

Why?

Should the threshold for "A" Velocity be so high that even Jonathan Broxton doesn't have an "A" in velocity?

I look at letter ratings a lot while scouting players and going over trade scenarios...why was the standard for letter ratings changed this year?

If SCEA wanted to trend ratings downward, that's fine...but does anyone have a definitive answer on this?