San Francisco Giants: Who From 25-Man Roster Will Stay and Who Will Go

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With the 2011 MLB playoffs underway, the San Francisco Giants will already be looking toward next season.

There's over six months of time until the regular season starts again, and countless transactions will be made before that time.

Not only will the Giants have to decide who from their 40-man roster will have to be sent back down or released, they have to figure out who from the 25-man roster will be staying as well.

Starting Pitchers

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Tim Lincecum: Stay

Matt Cain: Stay

Madison Bumgarner: Stay

Ryan Vogelsong: Stay

Jonathan Sanchez: Stay

Barry Zito: Stay

Well, there you have it. The Giants will bring back Lincecum and Cain at all costs, and Sanchez and Vogelsong have a good chance of staying with the team.

Barry Zito still has time left on his contract, but there's a possibility that the Giants could A) eat his contract and release him, or B) trade him and probably still eat some of his contract.

My gut feeling is the Giants keep him and either start him or put him in the bullpen as a long reliever. If they do let him go, I wouldn't shed a tear.

Bullpen

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Brian Wilson: Stay

Sergio Romo: Stay

Jeremy Affeldt: Go

Ramon Ramirez: Stay

Santiago Casilla: Stay

Javier Lopez: Stay

Guillermo Mota: Go

Dan Runzler: Stay

 

Most of the upper-echelon relievers will stay, plain and simple. Mota and Affeldt are free agents now, and I don't think the Giants keep either one.

Affeldt isn't worth his $4.5 million contract and Mota can easily be replaced by one of the younger relievers.

Outfielders

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Cody Ross: Stay

Carlos Beltran: Go

Andres Torres: Stay

Nate Schierholtz: Stay

Pat Burrell: Go

 

It was a tough decision whether to have Cody Ross stay and Carlos Beltran go, or vice versa. Either way, I think the Giants keep one and ditch the other.

Both are free agents, but Beltran will want a ton more money, so there's probably a better chance that he's the one to leave.

Infielders

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Aubrey Huff: Stay

Brandon Belt: Stay

Mark DeRosa: Go

Jeff Keppinger: Stay

Pablo Sandoval: Stay

Orlando Cabrera: Go

Eli Whiteside: Go

Chris Stewart: Stay

 

The Giants infield is one of their trickier situations, with lots of players staying on the roster that probably shouldn't.  

As long as DeRosa and Cabrera leave, the Giants can bring up players like Brett Pill and Justin Christian, who showed promise at the end of last season.