"Upon request by a Major League player to the Commissioner, the Commissioner may, on such conditions as he stipulates, consent to such player accepting a renewal of his contract at a salary rate less than eighty (80) percent of the rate stipulated for the preceding year, providing the salary rate is mutually agreed upon between the club and the player prior to January 10 and providing the request for consent to accept such salary is made by the player and received by the
Commissioner prior to January 10."
Twins not hamstrung by this at all.
The Player's Union tends to get involved when teams try to do this. Back in the day, A-Rod accepted what the Player's Union called a paycut and the union got the contract thrown out. The union feared it would set a bad precedent. Plus, I don't see the Twins screwing with a player in this way or Mauer agreeing. Contracts in the NFL are not guaranteed so we see this sort of thing happen all the time in the NFL, but we rarely see it in baseball where the player holds all the leverage.
Edited by Doomtints, 07 December 2017 - 10:42 AM.