Potential Snag In Mauer Deal: Twins Hesitant To Defer Money

While he wouldn’t discuss Joe Mauer’s contract situation specifically, Minnesota Twins’ owner Jim Pohlad told reporters today that he remains opposed to signing players to contracts that defer compensation.

“There’s a ton of real-life examples of that kind of thinking,” Pohlad said. “It’s either going to be somebody else’s problem, or we’ll worry about that later. And eventually you’ve got to worry about it. And at that point, when you’ve got to worry about it, it affects your current operation. So it’s really not a good thing. You’ve got to pay the money no matter what, you might as well do it while a player’s playing for you.”

This could be a hiccup in the Twins’ goal of both signing Mauer and fielding a competitive team at the same time given their limited payroll. Without back-loading the contract, Mauer’s salary could be burdensome enough to prevent the Twins from signing other complimentary players.

The Twins expect their 2010 opening day payroll to be $96 million, which is an almost 50 percent increase from last year’s $65 million budget. If Mauer signs an extension, that number — which is already stretching the team’s limits — will only increase.