@Runes Reforged and Base AP

With the upcoming "Runes Reforged" pre-season changes, it was said that, to compensate for the lack of starting stats, champions would receive base stats in compensation, including Base AP.

Now, from a design standpoint, I can't fathom the purpose of the concept. In the interest of clarity, I would like to suggest that absolutely no champions gain base AP. I'm not suggesting that AP champions shouldn't get damage increases, but I think that adding base AP is a roundabout way of tuning the numbers when it could be done in a more straightforward manner.

Base AD makes sense; it applies to auto-attacks. AP growth per level also makes sense, as it means you can strengthen abilities over time, regardless of which ability is maxed first. (rather than tuning base damage per rank around this) However, as base AP doesn't apply to auto-attacks and would always be the same every game, there's absolutely no reason not to just increase the base damage (or shield/heal/buff) of the champion's abilities. Even champions like Teemo or Kayle who apply AP to auto-attack damage could also just as easily receive higher base damage on those abilities. Doing so makes the actual effectiveness of the ability more transparent.

I grant that it's more work, but I feel like attention to detail should never be forsaken.