Your Minnesota Twins' Options Primer

[Greggory Masterson]

That frustrating roster move might make more sense than you think.

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

It’s only been two weeks, and the Twins have already started digging into their minor league depth, so it’s probably good for a discerning fan to know which players have minor league options. Head-scratching decisions often make more sense when considering the option information, so let’s overview the system.

First, let’s touch on some rules. They’re a bit complicated but graspable with some patience. If you already know the rules, skip to the player lists.

Minor League Options Defined
To be eligible for an MLB active roster, a player must be on that team’s expanded 40-man roster. A player on the 40-man roster can be in the majors or minors, but only players on the 40-man can be on the MLB active roster.

If a player is sent to the minors while also on the team’s 40-man roster, they need to have option years remaining. If the player has no option years remaining, they must be exposed to waivers to be sent down. When a player is exposed to waivers, any team willing to pay their salary can acquire their services without the player or their original team’s ability to stop the move.

Number of Options
When a player is added to a 40-man roster for the first time in his career, he has three option years. Option years are used when the player spends time in the minor leagues, an entire season or only a few weeks. A player can be sent down once or several times in that year, and it will still count as a single option year.

Players who do not play in the minor leagues in a given year retain their option years. If a player uses an option year in 2023, he will have two remaining. If he then spends all of 2024 on an MLB roster, he still has two. If he then gets sent down in 2025, he will have one. If he’s sent down again in 2026, he will have no options left, and if the team wants to send him to the minors in 2027, he would need to be waived first.

Nuances
There are some nuances to these rules to be aware of. First, if a player is in the minor leagues but is not on the 40-man roster, the team is not using one of his options. However, if he is called up to the major league team, and thus added to the 40-man roster, the team can only send him back down by exposing him to waivers.

As of 2022, a player can only be sent to the minor leagues five times in one season, which includes starting the season in the minors. After the fifth time, the subsequent demotion requires the player to be waived. They will still have any future option years, though.

Occasionally the years are malleable. A team can request an additional option year in particular circumstances, such as long-term injury to a minor leaguer on their 40-man. More specifically, the player must fit the criteria of having used all three options before getting 5 years of professional service (full season baseball). For example, Lewis Thorpe had four option years for this reason. In fact, a few Twins have. 

Gilberto Celestino had one option remaining in 2022 and was demoted mid-season. However, he was recalled within days after an injury to an active roster player, and because his demotion was so short, he did not use an option year. It needs to be over 20 days.

Players with at least five years of service time (time on an MLB active roster) can refuse a demotion, even if they still have options remaining. You will rarely see a 35-year-old sent to AAA, even if he has an option remaining, because he can simply say no, forcing the team to either release him or send someone else down.

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The Twins Roster
Let’s look at the Twins players’ situations with all that out of the way. It should be noted that even if a player is listed with options remaining, that doesn’t mean we think they will be sent down or are even likely to. (Things would have to go really bad for Jhoan Duran to be sent to St. Paul). This information is from FanGraphs’s Roster Resource.

MLB Players who can Refuse Demotion
As discussed, these players have enough service time to refuse to demotion. Yes, that means Emilio Pagán will not be sent to St. Paul, no matter how hard you try.
Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Joey Gallo, Sonny Gray, Max Kepler, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle, Emilio Pagán, Jorge Polanco, Donovan Solano, Michael A. Taylor, Christian Vázquez

MLB Players Out of Options
These players can be sent down, but they would need to be exposed to waivers first.
Nick Gordon, Jorge López

40-Man Players in their Last Option Year
These players have used an option this year, and it’s their last. Come 2024, they will have no options remaining.
Jordan Balazovic

MLB Players with One Option Remaining
These players are currently on the active roster (or injured list) and can still be sent down this year. However, if they are, they will have no options in 2024. The team could be a little more hesitant to use that final year than they would otherwise.
Willi Castro, Gilberto Celestino, Jhoan Duran, Kyle Farmer, Kyle Garlick, Alex Kirilloff, Caleb Thielbar

40-Man Players with Multiple Option Years Remaining
If necessary, any of these players can be sent back and forth with little concern.
Jorge Alcala, Matt Canterino, Brent Headrick, Ronny Henriquez, Griffin Jax, Ryan Jeffers, Edouard Julien, Trevor Larnach, Pablo López, Trevor Megill, Jose Miranda, Royce Lewis, Jovani Moran, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, Joe Ryan, Cole Sands, Louie Varland, Matt Wallner, Josh Winder, Simeon Woods Richardson

Notable Minor League Veterans without Options and/or Sufficient Service Time
There are a handful of minor league veterans that are not on the MLB roster. If these veterans are called up, they either have no options remaining (*) or can refuse the demotion due to service time (®), so sending them back down would be complicated. Prepare to lose them if you see them.
José De León*, Ryan LaMarre*, Patrick Murphy*, Sean Nolin*, Hernán Pérez®, Connor Sadzeck*, Aaron Sanchez®, Brock Stewart*, Tyler White*, Tony Wolters®

Notable Minor League Veterans with One Option Remaining
If these veterans are called up, they still have one option remaining, so they can be kept in the system and demoted, but this would be the last year, without exposing them to waivers.
Dereck Rodríguez

Notable Minor League Veterans with Multiple Options Remaining
With this group, if they’re called up, they can be demoted with very little option year consideration.
Mark Contreras, Randy Dobnak, Oliver Ortega, Elliot Soto

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[mikelink45]

That was excellent.  I really appreciate the factual way you presented this. 

[Doctor Gast]

Thanks Gregg for that enlghtening summation. Well appreciated

[Nashvilletwin]

Great post. I think I’ll save it for further reference. Thank you. 

[Blyleven2011]

Learn something new everyday  , thanks  ...

[GNess]

Well done - helpful!

[Fat Calvin]

Very helpful!

 

[arby58]

Kudos - the quip (and fact) about Pagan alone was worth the reading time.

[Squirrel]

@FlyingFinn ... I know you probably have it figured out now, but here's a primer 🙂

[tarheeltwinsfan]

"Outstanding". Or as we used to say in the infantry, "Out, standing in the rain."

[Nashvilletwin]

38 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

"Outstanding". Or as we used to say in the infantry, "Out, standing in the rain."

Haha. Like that - here’s another family favorite.
 

Greggory - the poster - is like the farmer tending his crops - he’s “out standing” in his field.  

[minman1982]

This is great, thanks for the explanation. With someone like Pagan, would the Twins even try to demote him? Even if he absolutely implodes, it seems like he would certainly not agree to go to St. Paul and would rather be released. Would it be better for the Twins to release him outright?

[Jocko87]

Very nice, and timely!

[PatPfund]

Great stuff!

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Great article!  Thanks!

[jdgoin]

@Greggory Mastersonnice work putting this all together. Just a few clarifications.

To be eligible for an MLB active roster, a player must be on that team’s expanded 40-man roster. 

• This isn’t necessarily true. A player may be “Selected” to the Active Roster while not being on the 40-man, as long as a team can make room on the 40-man with a corresponding move. That selected player can then be immediately be removed from the Active Roster without being a member of the greater 40-man roster. You usually see a situation like this when a team Selects a player who is out of option to the 26-man roster. In order to remove them from the 26-man roster a Club then designates that player for assignment and asks Outright Waivers on them to free up that spot.
• The only time a player needs to be on the 40-man roster to be recalled to the 26-man Active Roster is in the case of the 27th man for a doubleheader.

If a player is sent to the minors while also on the team’s 40-man roster, they need to have option years remaining. If the player has no option years remaining, they must be exposed to waivers to be sent down. When a player is exposed to waivers, any team willing to pay their salary can acquire their services without the player or their original team’s ability to stop the move.

• The claiming team must activate this player on their 26-man roster if the players is out of options. They are not able to send them to the Minor Leagues without first removing them from their 26-man roster via the waiver process.

 

There are some nuances to these rules to be aware of. First, if a player is in the minor leagues but is not on the 40-man roster, the team is not using one of his options. However, if he is called up to the major league team, and thus added to the 40-man roster, the team can only send him back down by exposing him to waivers.

• This is similar to the first comment above. A player may be “Selected” to the Active Roster really at any time. If that player has Options remaining he may be Optioned as long as the Club has an open space, or can create an open space on its 40-man roster. So somebody like Dobnak could be selected to the 26-man roster and then be optioned back. This is also why sometimes a team may select a certain veteran player before a prospect. They can create a spot to get the player on the 40-man and 26-man roster (say move a player to the 60-day IL - Celestino this season), and then DFA the player they selected because they are not as concerned about losing that players to waivers.

 

A team can request an additional option year in particular circumstances, such as long-term injury to a minor leaguer on their 40-man. 

• A team does not need to request the 4^th option year. It is automatically granted during the offseason as long as that player meets the criteria Gregory mentioned. This happens more with foreign-born players. The rules for this are complicated and involve a certain amount of active days during the Minor League season.

 

Gilberto Celestino had one option remaining in 2022 and was demoted mid-season. However, he was recalled within days after an injury to an active roster player, and because his demotion was so short, he did not use an option year. It needs to be over 20 days.

• An optional assignment is charged at the end of the season assuming the player spent more than 20 days on optional assignment during that season. It does not need to be 20 consecutive days. It could be two 10-day stints or some combination to be 20 days or greater.

 

MLB Players who can Refuse Demotion
As discussed, these players have enough service time to refuse to demotion. Yes, that means Emilio Pagán will not be sent to St. Paul, no matter how hard you try.
Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Joey Gallo, Sonny Gray, Max Kepler, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle, Emilio Pagán, Jorge Polanco, Donovan Solano, Michael A. Taylor, Christian Vázquez

• If the team and Pagan felt it would be mutually beneficial for him to spend some time in the Minor Leagues, Pagan could consent to an optional assignment. A player with 5 or more years of service may not be optioned without first getting their consent like a player with less than 5 years of MLS. We had to do this with Jason Marquis a number of years ago. He missed a significant amount time in Spring Training due to a family emergency and was not ready for Opening Day. Because he was not injured we could not place him on the IL and send him on rehab assignment. We had to get him to agree to be optioned to make a start or two before recalling him. He was not charged with an optional assignment because his time was less than 20 days.

 

40-Man Players in their Last Option Year
These players have used an option this year, and it’s their last. Come 2024, they will have no options remaining.
Jordan Balazovic

MLB Players with One Option Remaining
These players are currently on the active roster (or injured list) and can still be sent down this year. However, if they are, they will have no options in 2024. The team could be a little more hesitant to use that final year than they would otherwise.
Willi Castro, Gilberto Celestino, Jhoan Duran, Kyle Farmer, Kyle Garlick, Alex Kirilloff, Caleb Thielbar

• If any of these players are optioned during the 2023 season for less than a total of 20 days they will not be charged with an option and would still have an option remaining in 2024.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, jdgoin said:

nice work putting this all together. Just a few clarifications.

Thank you for the input. Is always confusing, this helps clarify the clarification.

[Valdespino]

7 hours ago, arby58 said:

Kudos - the quip (and fact) about Pagan alone was worth the reading time.

Pagan’s pitching great, why would you send him down?

[Greggory Masterson]

1 hour ago, jdgoin said:

This is similar to the first comment above. A player may be “Selected” to the Active Roster really at any time. If that player has Options remaining he may be Optioned as long as the Club has an open space, or can create an open space on its 40-man roster. So somebody like Dobnak could be selected to the 26-man roster and then be optioned back. This is also why sometimes a team may select a certain veteran player before a prospect. They can create a spot to get the player on the 40-man and 26-man roster (say move a player to the 60-day IL - Celestino this season), and then DFA the player they selected because they are not as concerned about losing that players to waivers.

Thanks for these clarifications, Jack. They absolutely help. I love learning about those intricacies. With the one quoted here on reread, I definitely missed a couple of sentences I thought were in there, and the rest help fill in some gaps. 

[Rosterman]

Balazovic is interesting. He has to make the team next year, but can't be sent out next season without going thru waivers (and even then becoming a minor league free agent).

[Rosterman]

Also intresting that the Twins have to use an "open roster spot" carefully. They just won't be able to send pitchers back-and-forth at random - guys like Moran or Sands or even Varland have to be carefully used in the majors, and in the minors, correctly. 

Yes, the Twins MAY have a number of arms to call up, use, and let them walk if anyone wants to reclaim them.