Any sign of HGH language in the new contract, or are we back to ignoring the drug problem until it once again becomes the elephant (or perhaps the elephantine head) in the room?

This is a relief. I was worried that the Nationals would end up getting screwed on Soriano's impending departure. (I think it is unlikely that he resigns, and I'm in full agreement with David that were the Nats to give him his apparent market value of 5 yrs/$75 million they would be overpaying.) Not that Bowden shouldn't have moved him at the trade deadline in the first place, but I actually don't think they're significantly worse off by taking draft picks (given the excellence of farm system director Mike Rizzo) and allowing Soriano to post his 40/40 season with the Nationals.

The free agent/draft picks arrangement was in need of some reform - the prior setup allowed big-money teams to disproportionately benefit, as they were the ones with the most free agents anyway, many of which weren't top shelf - and this strikes me as an interesting and workable compromise.

The probability of finding a good replacement player drops greatly for the picks one would get for a type B or C player anyway, according to my study of the draft, so it wasn't like the teams got much value for those type of players anyway. So dropping this compensation isn't that big a deal for most teams, it's like betting on getting a hard 8 at the crap table, the odds of winning are low, though at least if you have the pick, it's like a lottery, you got to play if you want to win.

And frankly, neither are the picks one gets for a Type A player that valuable either, it is still very much a crapshoot picking in the latter part of the first round and picking in the supplemental first round, the odds are against finding a replacement player unless you get 4-5 picks in that range, not the 2 that teams currently get. Teams are better off trading for some known qualities unless they believe they have figured out the secret to picking the right prospect in the draft or, as with this draft, they think the talent level is generally higher and thus easier to find a replacement player.

Given all the hubbub over dropping compensation and the agreement that it should be eliminated, which apaprently was discussed to some great extent when the last CBA was negotiated, I'm surprised that this compensation issue wasn't phased out, say, mid-way through this agreement.

But MLB and the players union is sometimes worse than a soap opera, they just like to stretch the story line out until the audience is totally annoyed with the storyline and waiting for a resolution.