It sounds to me like the contract stipulated that Joh could opt out at any time he likes, for no buyout. IIRC this was scoffed at a bit when the contract was signed, after all, Joh would never walk away from $8MM per year.
It's a very real possibility, IMO, that this was all Joh. That he didn't like being a part-time catcher for the rest of his productive years. Now there, Z (and Wak) deserve a huge amount of credit, for transforming Joh in to a part time player without it being more of an ordeal. And Joh deserves some credit as well, for how gracefully he handled himself.
It's also a possibility that Joh was encouraged by the FO to opt out. Maybe Yamauchi somehow made sure Joh knew he'd be taken care of. ::shrugs:: This is kind of like the Hargrove quitting episode (although I'm convinced I know what happened there). We may never REALLY know the exact machinations behind closed doors.
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