For example if Brett Gardner starts the season on March 31 in the Bronx and then is subsequently optioned 4 days later (3 games) on April 3, he would have to be in the minors for a total of 20 days throughout the 2008 season before one of his three option years are used up. If Gardner is recalled to the majors before he spends 20 days (not games, days) in the minors and does not ever reach a total of 20 days on a minor league roster then his option year will remain unused.

And stop arguing about the Yankees being cheap or whatever because option years HAS ABSOLUTELY DICK to do with money. Option years are years where you can shuttle a player back & forth to the minors and majors without worrying about losing him on waivers. A player such as Sean Henn who has used up his three option years would have to be placed on waivers (which means he’s available to all 29 teams) before he can go down to the minors.

For three days of an extra reliever, when the bullpen is already well-rested, why waste an option on a player that you might need later?

Sorry…it’s the end of a long Friday.

i was speaking in general terms: if it’s only going to be for 3 days, you might not want to use an option. this would make sense for someone like Ohlendorf.

speaking specifically of Patterson, no, the options probably don’t matter.

There seems to be some confusion over whether or not Bruney has any options left. Yesterday, Chad Jennings blogged that Bruney does have an option left, but back on March 3, Jennings said he didn’t. Looking back through the transaction listings, Bruney was optioned by the Diamondbacks in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and by the Yankees in both 2006 and 2007, which makes the matter even more confusing as players only have three option years. It seems Bruney slipped through a loophole in the Basic Agreement, which reads as follows:

If a Player is optionally assigned for a total of less than 20 days in one championship season, such optional assignment(s) shall not count as an optional assignment in connection with the limitation upon optional assignments provided for in Major League Rule 11(c). . . For purposes of couting days on option, the date of the optional assignment shall be counted and the date of recall shall not be counted, provided that the date of recall shall be counted if the recall takes place after the start of any Minor League game in which the Player was eligible to play.

Here are the length of Bruney’s optional assignments:

2004: More than two months, total
2005: 14 days
2006: More than two months, total
2007: 17 days

Thus, despite being optioned in four separate years, Bruney has only used up two of his option years.