Years ago, the White Sox invoked a "diminished skills" clause in Frank Thomas's contract, a move that didn't bring happiness to either party. I wonder if that kind of clause is rare, or common? Doumit's contract extension was based in large part on his ability and willingness to catch. I'm sure Terry Ryan doesn't want this to go to litigation, but if the reasonable choice becomes to cut ties and no trade can be worked out, this has the potential of becoming messy. I hope, as was already stated, this is just a rumor gone wild.