How about this as a compromise? I know and a PvE only player it will make. my life better.
Make 2, yes 2 PvP stats. One offensive, one defensive.
Whenever someone goes into warmode, or into a battleground or starts a duel, the PvE secondary star on their gear turn into the 2 PvP stats, you know like Strength can turn into Intelligence when you switch specs.
Then my personal favorite, put all PvP in warmode, no more flagging in the PvE shard.
PvE players get left alone, PvP players get PvP gear anyway they want and they don’t have to carry around 2 sets of gear