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I've done extensive research on this. On the first day of spring training, OOTP will promote anyone on your 40-man roster who is still in the minors to the active roster. Any of those players who OOTP had to move from minors to majors on the first day of spring training will be charged an option for the year (since technically they were still in the minors when spring training started). You can avoid being charged the options at that time by bringing them all to the active roster manually yourself during preseason - before spring training starts.
If, after spring training has started, you want to "invite" other players who are not currently on your 40-man roster to spring training, you'll have to add them to your 40-man. They will NOT burn an option year when you add them to the 40-man roster. However, if they don't make your team and you have to send them to the minors once the regular season begins, they will use an option year at that time.
The easy way to remember it is this: an option year will be charged to a player who is on the 40-man roster but NOT on the 25-man roster at any time between the first day of spring training and the end of the regular season. Demoting someone from majors to minors during the offseason will not charge an option year unless they're still in the minors once the first day of spring training starts.
An option year can be charged at any time during spring training and regular season, and lasts until the end of the following preseason. For example, if a player has 1 option year left heading into the season and is optioned to the minors at the start of the regular season, that season will be considered his "last option year", and you'll be able to move him back and forth to the minors up until the end of the following preseason, at which point his status will say "Out of options".
Hope that helps! Let me know if I need to clarify anything.
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