options doesn't have to do with being able to send them down without going through waivers. it also has to do with when they can hit FA and be UFA. you can control their salaries better if you don't bring them up early
What is a UFA? FA = free agent?
Options DO have to do with being able to send them up and down, if you can without passing them through waivers they have options meaning they can play at the major league level or you can send them on a minor league assignment. John Olerud had options remaining when he retired since he never played in the minors other then his rehab assignment towards the end of his career.
from wikipedia which is straight forward enough, I believe you can find more on mlbpa
"Options
If a player is on the 40-man roster but not on the active major league roster, he is said to be on optional assignment—his organization may freely move him between the major league club and the minor league club. If a player is on the 40-man roster and not the active 25 man roster for any part of more than three seasons (in which he spent 20 or more total days of service in the minors), he is out of options and may not be assigned to the minors without first clearing waivers. However, if a player has less than 5 years of professional experience, he may be optioned to the minors in a fourth season without being subject to waivers. If a major league player is ineligible for free agency and "has options" remaining, his team may option him to a minor league team without consequence. This is usually what is meant when players are "sent down" to the minors. Likewise, when a player on the 40-man roster is added to the active major league roster, he is "called up" to the majors."
I could be wrong, but I believe that since we have passed a certain date (June 1 or something) the free agency impact on bringing a player up from now until the end of the season is the same. If that's the case, there's no reason to hold off for free agency purposes.
I agree with the people who say let the trade deadline play out. If the same guys are all playing a month from now then I'll be upset.
If a player is called up about 2 weeks into a season and they stays at the major league level for the entire year and the following 5 he will not have enough service time to reach 6 years thus free agency. The actual number will vary year to year as the first day of the season is when the first game is played and it does not have to be that team playing. Usually these days the season starts with a single sunday night game and that is when day one of service time starts.
One year = 172 days minimum time spent on active roster or major league DL ect. The season is slightly longer then 172 days that is why you must wait about 2 weeks to ensure player is not on active roster for 172 days thus he will not reach 1 year service in his first year nor will he reach 6.00 years after 6 seasons meaning the team will control his rights for another year.
After 3.00 years service time a players salary is decided by arbitration. Before that they can simply renew the contract at whatever they want. In addition to players with 3 years service time or more, the top 17% of players with 2 years + service time and with at least one day on the active roster the year before achieve "super 2 status". These players get 4 years of arbitration instead of 3. The date is usually some time around june when it is safe to call someone up and they cannot reach super 2 status. Despite the fact we hear more and more about this in recent years I don't believe the date has been pushed back as a result of this.
To sum it up :
If you want to control a player for 7 seasons not 6 you wait 2 weeks to call him up. You will get the player for 3 of those seasons at the salary of your choosing and 4 arbitration years. By waiting the 2 weeks he will not have 6 years service time after the 6 seasons thus you get him under control for a whole extra year.
If you want to control a player for 4 years cheap + 3 years arbitration you wait until the second or 3rd week of june and then call them up. Once this deadline passes there is no difference in salary in calling up a player the day after or the last day of the season other then for those days on the active roster their minor league contract becomes a major league contract so they would earn a prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary and not whatever their minor league salary was.
