MLB rules are designed to generate confusion and debate just like any other good governing document. Here's yet another example...
In the simplest form, most major league players have three option years.
How many (if any) does Tigers utility man Ryan Raburn have left?
Here's his transaction history:
2004 - Raburn is added to the 40-man roster in September after spending the entire season in the minors.
2005 - Played entirely at Triple-A Toledo.
2006 - Played entirely (again) at Triple-A Toledo.
2007 - Called up by the Tigers in July, stayed up for the remainder of the season.
2008 - Sent down by the Tigers on 4/5/08, recalled for the remainder of the season by the Tigers on 4/12/08.
2009 - Sent down to Triple-A on 4/1/09, recalled on 4/22/09. Hasn't been moved up or down since.
It's my understanding that 2004 does not account as an option year because Raburn was added to the 40-man roster in September and was never simultaneously on the 40-man roster and an active minor league one during the course of the season.
Since he was moved from Detroit back to Toledo before the 2005 season, that counts as his first option year. The Tigers could have moved him up and down as many times as they wanted that season and it would have counted the same as sending him down before the year started and never recalling him.
Subsequently, 2006 is not an option year because he spent the entire season at Triple-A Toledo and was not ever moved from the Tigers' roster back down to Triple-A.
2007 counts as his second option year.
2008 does not count as an option year, because he only spent seven days in the minors. 20 is the minimum requirement for an option year to be burned.
2009 will count as his third option year because Raburn spent 21 days at Triple-A.
If the interpretations above are correct, he's out of options for 2010. There is some ambiguity in the rules write-up I've got that says a player can have a fourth option season if he has been optioned in three seasons and has not yet amassed five full seasons of professional baseball experience. I don't think that applies here, since it doesn't say MLB experience. Raburn's five years on the 40-man roster (2005-2009) would seemingly disqualify him from the extra option year, even though his actual MLB service time isn't anywhere close to five years.