[NoOne]

it should be proportional, yes.

the other side of that coin is what occurs when you add rounds. e.g. if you add 10 rounds to a 20 round draft, do you get 50% more of all quality of players, or is it just players that fit the quality of rounds 21-30? i'd guess it is the former, rather than the latter. either way, it should be proportional -- exlcuding the expected volatility of randomly generated players.

the league gets out of whack due to the difference in players. the LTMs affect a real player's distribution of talent (various raitngs) differently than they affect the fictional player's distribution of talent. because they have better eyes, more power and less babip, the same LTMs will cause very different statistical output with this new distribution of talent.

the dh/no dh evolution is probably why the nl didn't follow the exact same path as the AL. the teams had to convert lineups and strategies on the fly - so an extra dip to start after the dh removal seems reasonable. a non-dh league will put up less offense on average, regardless.

the offense isn't skyrocketing because of lack of pitching talent or too much batting talent. it's because the LTMs were calculated using a league of players that are significantly different than what gets created as the league progresses. whatever the differences are, they clearly favor the batter in regard to the original LTMs for a real-world league. it willhappen without fail. start any real league with default settings (no auto-calc) and once they are replaced by fictioanl players, offense explodes by 20-25% and fluctuates around that new average.

if i understand your situation well enough, hitting auto-calc just one time would significanlty change your stats the next year. the LTMs will be adjusted based on how far "off" they were the previous year when compared to the League Totals values. (not telling you to use it once or none or all the time -- that's just what it does)

going to the statistical accuracy report will show year-by-year the % off from an average. i don't know if that average is based on hardcoded numbers or your the league total values you use, so use that info with caution. (don't ask where it is. i don't recall. check the manual - i think it's only available after the season ends?)

-------- i write this below just to stir a thought or two - not trying to convince anyone. based on your orignal post, this might be what you want or it may not.

what actionjackson alluded to is something i do to avoid these problems and avoid artificialy changing the physics and game environment every year with LTMs to maintain a perceived average that "should" (i disagree) be hit each year... which has no place in a simulation without cause, but is fine for entertainment in any shape. the same reasons the game tells you not to fix the statistical output to hit the totals given is the same reason i sugges to not arbitrarily use auto-calc every year or even at all (it's a checkbox on same page with the reasoning stated in-game)

by simming very long periods of time, you are essentially figuring out hte average talent created by the fictional player creation process. if you experience enough league turnover and use those averages to calculate LTM's, you get a true average of statistical output over time and league turnover. at this point, the only fluctuations in statistical output are caused by randomness in the season and randomness of talent levels entering the league - and any other factors in the game coded to simulate real-life.

So, when you get a few drafts in a row with heavy pitching talent, you will likely experience a pitching heavy league in the near future - amazing thought huh? if batting is stronger, then offense will rise. i think that's the way it should be. if you are using auto-calc and you experience an influx of disproportion (batting or pitching), the LTMs will be changed to rein in whatever is out of whack due to that change in talent.

if you decide that the mound is going to be raised, you might lower some LTM and raise others. that would be a cause to change LTMs from this perspective. it doesn't mean they may never change. they just require a reason for the change.

you can only do this if you calculate a truer avearge of statistcal output relative to LTM/LT. one year or twelve isn't enough. this requires many generations of players. you need enough player turnover in the league to calculate it accurately. not only that, you need to repeat that process. it takes multiple long-run simulations to make all the adjustments necessary to LTMs.

tips:
never use the first ~50 years of data - even if you start out as a fictional leauge. 50yrs out is a safe point to start this type of project. make a backup at that point and start any testing from there. also, i'd start the league 50yrs before the time you intend to start your actual league. this way you can merely put the LTMs in and make use of that backup ASAP. it's better to use the backup or make a quickstart from it. you can delete the 50 years of stats and history if you wish. why? because, if you start a new league and it isn't exactly the same, the LTMs may or may not apply to this new league.

if that interests you, i have an old thread and a spreadsheet that can help you in this endeavor. beyond simple questions, i offer no technical support. if oyu know how to link to files and other basics of spreadsheets, it won't be hard. it will be time-consuming. it's a heck of a lot easier to ignore these things and just click auto-calculate each year.