[Mike Lowe]

I'm not an expert, especially with how things are handled in the offseason of MLB, but I do know that options do NOT have to be used in consecutive years. What I mean is, it's not a MUST that if you use a player option in 2007 and 2008 that your last chance to use an option is 2009. There are plenty of cases where certain players have been sent down to the minors for some at bats to work out kinks (not for rehab as that is different) because they were 35 and still had an option floating around.