I was incorrect on one point. There is one option in the game that has an influence on how the AI does lineups. That is the option of "traditional" vs "sabermetric". On some AI teams, that option has virtually no impact. On others, it does have a noticeable impact.
To clarify another aspect of this: I agree that the AI does not appear to consider a guy's recent stats in making lineup decisions. So, whatever "sabermetric" means, I have to assume that it does not mean, for example, the guy's recent OBP. I assume the AI is using only ratings in this programming.
The lineup/depth chart is likely a very complex optimization program -- perhaps the most difficult programming in the game. It is clear to me that Markus is very reluctant to mess around with this programming. For example, if he added a weighting for stats (assuming he agreed it was a good idea, first of all), then the game would have to get a lot of testing and bug fixing before it would be useable again. That's a risky thing to do.
I also think he would be even more reluctant to let users mess around with the parameters (weightings) used in this programming. That would just be an invitation for users to break their own games. Which would be OK, but users don't seem to react to that by saying, "oops, I broke my game." They tend to say things that include the title of this thread.
