Your Minnesota Twins' Options Primer

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.

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