two things. first, this from the most recent update announcement..
Hello HBD'ers!
We have a small update for you today that includes some minor changes we think you will all appreciate:
* Diamonds in the Rough have been increased by a few ratings points allowing for more players to contribute at the ML level than were previously allowed
and these q and a's from the january dev chat...
Can there be a system where more players exceed their original ratings predictions? As it stands now, it doesn't seem like there are too many Ecksteins or Piazzas ever found in the later rounds of the draft. (torrone - Pro - 12:31 PM)
This touches on two topics. First, is the scouting fuzziness that we plan on adjusting. The second is Diamond in the Rough players. A franchise can see certain players jump in their career paths. Between both of these pieces, you should be able to see some Piazzas and Ecksteins. But both of them are very rare, and that's the way we designed it in HBD, too.
Any chance we might see a expansion of Diamond in the Roughs. I play in 8 worlds and I have yet to see a diamond in the rough be a good major leaguer. It would be nice to see a player that was once a 65 projected overall rated player jump up to a 75 or 78 overall projected player. Currently what we see is minor leaguers become better future minor leaguers. (plague - Hall of Famer - 1:42 PM)
The idea behind DITRs is, on the whole, see a small group of players jump one level of skill with an even smaller subset make two skill level jumps. For instance, an organizational SS could become a fringe big leaguer. A fringe big leaguer could make the jump to regular. And every now and then, you could see a fringe big leaguer make the jump to All-Star. We review these periodically, and it's working properly. I've personally seen some on my team make the two level jump.
i dont see anything in the announcement or responses from admin that makes me think DITRs aren't working. they appear to be as advertised from these remarks. the key is bolded in the first chat response. fringe BL players that make the jump to all-star like eckstein's are VERY RARE. and the piazza's are even rarer, as they should be.
to say there should be more doesnt show a true appreciation for how special a case mike piazza really is. lasorda drafted him as a favor to the family because he knew them very well (if i remember that story correctly. dont be afraid to call me out there if im wrong).