April 12, 2011 (thanks chuck!) -
That's when the formula was last revised, you can see it clearly in the database. (DAN HAMHUIS!) That day, I sent an urgent ticket to Support complaining that the new formula was clearly and immediately out of whack. The new defensive rating formula had CLEARLY (DAN HAMHUIS!) ranked that season's players in a way that made them utterly incompatible with the existing database.
To be clear, the new players have to make sense when you mix them in with the existing players, right? (DAN HAMHUIS!)
The response I received - directly from the lead developer at the time, who was well known to many of us older users - was that they would be watching the results, and would revise things at a later date if necessary.
The standard reply this offseason would indicate that the re-evaluation has come. Since it was sorely needed in the first place IMO, one can wonder if it's not just plugging new players in, but also possibly revising some existing ones. (DAN HAMHUIS!) And you wouldn't think the division realignment would be a big deal, but it confirms my belief that the player formula accounts for which teams the players play against.
Regardless, it's an embarrassment that it wasn't handled earlier.