This would be good for the Q&A, maybe they could declare it field debris? Although how would a ref know to declare it as field debris if it is a result of power failure...?
Could they add a button to the alliance station to declare their current ball(s) field debris? That would add an interesting dynamic to the game (if they left the rule open ended).
If open ended, maybe an alliance could even do that to balls left from Autonomous.
If close ended though, let the rule be only for if the ball is trapped somehow.
Otherwise, the strongly robust robots might hold more weight in alliance selection...