Arquimedez Bozo wrote:

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WaterView, Reddick is only up until Martinez and Kotchman report. There's no way he's going to be up long enough that he won't be optioned for 20 days after this.

I guess it doesn't "automatically" burn an option, but it pretty much does.

I understand Reddick is there as a VERY short-term placeholder; that was why it seemed highly unlikely he'd burn an option by being there. Obviously I'm misunderstanding something here. I read the rule and to me it seems to say that a player has 3 option years, but doesn't burn an option (therefore one could say he has 4th option year) if he doesn't amass 20 days of MLB time in a given year. Doesn't that mean that if Reddick doesn't stay with the major league club for at least 20 days no option is burned?

I don't mean to belabor this small point, but I want to understand this issue since options can play an important role as prospects approach the majors.

Arquimedez Bozo wrote:

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Ah, you're misunderstanding a key point WV. Being "optioned" for 20 days means in the minors for 20 days.

You're right, that's the root of my confusion.

If I now understand it correctly, when a player is brought up for the first time the prism changes and, for purposes of options, he's now a major-league player being optioned to the minors. So the first call-up, no matter how short, starts that clock. And in the current instance, the 20-day rule means that if Reddick spends at least twenty days in the minors for the rest of this year an option year is burned.