The ratings have absolutely nothing to do with skill. I like to play against guys with high ratings because to me that means that at least they are experienced and won't mess up a whole league by dumping players all season. This to me is the biggest detriment of playing in an Autoleague- it's a tremendous advantage if it happens in your division and a tremendous drag if it happens in another division (wild card will probably be from the division with the extra easy wins...)
I jumped in because I've never done a 69 season with DH. It just seemed silly to me that somebody would go to the trouble of creating a league and not make it advanced. It's not a big deal though.