Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima has decided to use an option in his contract that allows him to void the final two years on his deal with the Mariners to return to Japan to continue his baseball career. Today, in many professional sports contracts, both players and clubs will use an option clause in a contract that sometimes voids a contract or sometimes adds an additional year at a certain salary. Basically, the choices of how a club and a player can choose to negotiate the option are endless. Many times the option is by mutual consent of both the player and club, but sometimes the club has an exclusive choice to pick up the option.

Before free agency in pro sports, the option clause was used in a much different way. A club could renew a player’s contract via the option clause. In baseball this was known as the reserve clause. Of course the NBA and NFL had very similar type clauses. Today the CFL is one of the few leagues that continues to have an option clause in a player contract. In order for a CFL player to become a free agent, he actually has to play out his option year in order to achieve free agent status.

Link for more on Johjima's contract:  http://www.onenewsnow.com/AP/Search/Sports/Default.aspx?id=728240


                              Kenji Johjima


Jack Johnson pardon overdue:
http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ap-boxingpardon&prov=ap&type=lgns