Who's Got Options?

With Spring Training behind us, baseball fever is rising dramatically as opening day is behind us. And many players will be fighting for their baseball lives. In this report INSIDE PITCH will re-examine a rule that has major ramifications on a team's final 25-man roster. Today, we look at the oft misunderstood "Options" rule. For the 2008 season, fans will hear over and over again this sentence, "Player A has a better chance of making the opening day roster than Player B because he is out of 'Options'." So, how many "Options" does a player actually have and how does this rule work?

How It Works

When a player is originally drafted by or initially signed by a team, a clock begins to run. This clock is the first rule that a fan has to follow if they want to understand how "Options" work. The player is under the team's complete control for the first three years (four years if player signed is younger than 19 years old). If the player is not added to the 40-man roster after three years (or four years for younger players) he becomes eligible for the Rule 5 draft. This draft allows other teams to sign the player if they are willing to keep him on their major league roster or DL for the entire year. Though, if their use of the DL is limited, as he must be active for at least 90 days.

Now, once a player is added to the 40-man roster, a second clock begins. This is the "Option Years" clock. This means that when a player is on the 40-man roster, teams have the option of calling that player up to the major league team and sending him down to the minors as many times as it wishes for THREE YEARS. If a player on the 25-man major league roster (who has "Options" remaining)  is never sent down to the minors in a given year, then a team retains however many "Option Years" it has left until the team has used all of them. After these three "Option Years", the player is considered to be "Out of Options" and may not be sent down without going through Waivers.

Usually when fans get confused, it is when they think that a team only has a certain number of times they can call up and send down a player in any given year, or they don't realize that the three "Option Years" do not have to be consecutive. To highlight this last point, let's use Ryan Zimmerman as an example. In 2005 Zimmerman was added to the major league roster at the same time he was added to the 40-man roster. Even though he has been on Washington's 40-man roster for two full seasons, the Nationals still have all three "Option" years left to use since they have never sent Zimmerman down to the minors.

The reason for the "Option" rule is so that players who are blocked in an organization eventually are given a chance to pursue their careers with another organization where their might be a better major league opportunity for them. Another way to look at the rule is as a protection for the player. Teams are prevented from stashing a young talent in the minors for as long as they want.

Caveats

• If a player is on the 40-man roster for THREE YEARS and never put on the major league roster in that time, he gains a FOURTH "Option" year.
• DL rehabilitation assignments are not counted as an "Option".
• If a player is sent to the minors for less than 10-days in each stint, it is not considered an "Option".
• If a player on the 40-man roster is sent to the minor leagues in spring training, it counts as an "Option".

A player with five seasons of major league service time or more (calculating MLB service time is a topic for another blog) can refuse an "Option" to the minor leagues even if the team hasn't used up its "Options". An example would be Roger Clemens (supposing he plays this season). Clemens has never been optioned to the minors. But, because he has more than five seasons of MLB experience a GM could not option him without his permission.

Also, even if a minor leaguer is not added to the 40-man roster, after six years he has the option of becoming a minor league free-agent.

The Case Of Oliver Perez

There was confusion in the New York media as to whether Mets' pitcher Oliver Perez is "Out of Options" or not. Some are even confused as to why he had any "Options" remaining last year. If one reviews the rules I have layed out, including the Caveats, then the answer is clear.

Oliver Perez is "Out of Options" beginning this season. The reason for some of the confusion is because many don't realize that 2005 didn't count as an "Option" year even though Perez pitched part of the summer for the Triple-A, Indianapolis Indians. The time he spent in the minors that year was considered part of his DL rehabilitation assignment. I have listed that as Caveat #2. So if we review Perez's flow of movement from the minors to the majors, we can see that 2002 and 2003 (where he was called up from the minors and sent down from the majors) were counted as his first TWO "Option" years. Since Perez spent no time in the minors in 2004 and the time he spent in 2005 was part of a DL rehab assignment, 2006 (when he spent much of his time in the minors after being sent down by the Pirates) was his FINAL "Option" year.

"Option Years" Rule Summary

Team's Rights

• Team has three or four (if he is under 19-years old) years to add player to 40-man roster.

• Once added to 40-man roster, team has THREE (in some cases FOUR) "Option Years" where they can call-up or send down players as often as they like without putting him through Waivers. These "Option Years" do not need to be used in consecutive years.

• DL minor league rehabilitation assignments do not count as an "Option".

• If a player spends less than 10 days in the minors during any given stint, it is not considered an "Option".      

Player's Rights

• Player is eligible for Rule 5 Draft if not added to 40-man roster in first three or four (if player is younger than 19 years old) years of his career.

• Players with five or more years of MLB experience can refuse an "Option" to the minors even if all three "Options" were not used by team.

• Players who are not added to 40-man roster or drafted in the Rule 5 draft become minor league free-agents after six years.

Sending to the Minors Player Options Whether minor-league players are added to the 40-man roster to be protected during the Rule 5 draft or as an injury replacement or callup during the season, they often need to be sent back to the minor leagues. In order send a player back to the minors while retaining him on the 40-man roster, a team can send him down on an optional assignment (option for short). In general, a player has three options - this means he can be optioned down in three different years. If a player is optioned down twice in one year, it only counts for one option. After a player has used up all his options, he must be kept on the 25-man roster or passed through waivers. Exceptions An option is not used when a player spends less than 20 days on an optional assignment in the entire season. So if a player spends only a few days down on the farm, it does not burn one of his three options. When a player is optioned down, he can't be recalled until 10 days have passed. However, he can be recalled sooner than that if a player on the major league roster is placed on the disabled list. The major leaguer does not have to correspond positionally to the minor leaguer (for example, if an outfielder was injured, you could call up a recently-optioned pitcher). A player can also be recalled prior to the 10-day minimum if he is traded or if the minor league season ends. In certain cases, players are granted four options. This is only the case if a player has (a)used all three options already and (b)does not have five full seasons of professional experience. Note that only full-season leagues count for a "season of professional experience" because short-season leagues aren't 90 days (the minimum) long. Also, DL time does not count. This rule protects players added to the 40-man roster long before they were eligible for the Rule 5 draft - they are not punished with less development time because their organization started their "clock" too soon. This rule applies to Abe Alvarez. A confusing aspect of this rule is that the rules for determining a year of service for a fourth option are different from the rule determining the number of years necessary for Rule 5 eligbility. If a player has accrued five years of Major League service time, he has the right to refuse an optional assignment and elect free agency.