This doesn't do much to address your rant, but I would assume that just the system will change, not the resulting level of players. Generally the guys in charge are very conscious of how changes shift the game balance. I'm just hoping for a little bit more enjoyable of a system than paying some amount every week and then finding out what it's worth at the end of the season.
As far as rookies and salaries... maybe you got the short straw, but you can pull pretty solid rookies with a <5k salary, solid potential and skills in the right categories. Some of my best trainees have been around the 4k range to start.