And, at least in the qualifying rounds, the object is also to get spotted by other teams. For example, a team with a great defense might not have a high enough w/l ratio to be an alliance head, but still be recruited heavily. For example, my team got yellowcarded
in qualification for "egrarious robot conduct" and we were one of the top picks for finals. Again, taking a penalty can HELP you if it makes other teams notice you.
(Just for the record, the second robot we tipped was unintentional.)