Take a look at the two division title winners, something about them made them a good squad and got that title, assuming the others in your division don't completely suck. Look hard enough and you will start to see what the differences are...and you will be on your way to being decent every season. There are certain things about a team in HBD that help you win but are not readily apparent in the ratings. Once you know these, you will have a leg up on other players.
One of them is switch hitting. A SW hitter with splits of 60/60 is just as good as, if not better, than a comparable non SW guy with splits of 75/75. But most owners will see the splits and undervalue him.