Should he stay or should he go?

I'm still catching up on topics from the last week. On Monday, Tim Kawakami from the Merc wrote in his blog (about which Giants are keepers and which ones aren't. He explained his criteria in the condensed version of the blog in the paper:

Simple rules. Given what we've seen so far, which Giants and A's players could play a productive role on a championship-level team now and into the future?

That's my definition of a "keeper."

Bottom line: out of the 27 players that Kawakami looks at, he only considers 5 to be keepers. Of those 5, 3 are pitchers (obviously Cain, Lincecum and Wilson), and two are outfielders (Rowand and Lewis, although Kawakami doesn't think Rowand is worth the money).

I can't argue with those keepers. Good call.

There are some other non-keepers that are no-brainers. Castillo (Pedro lite). Velez ('nuff said). Aurilia (sentiment only goes so far, Richie). Zito (can we get a refund?). Walker (either really good or really bad - too much of the latter). Chulk (aka batting tee). Durham (old slow guy).

I think there needs to be a third category. Maybe some guys wouldn't "play a productive role on a championship-level team", but they still have some value, intangible or otherwise.

For instance, Omar Vizquel. Yeah, he's past his prime. His defense is still good. And I think he improves the players around him. Plus, I'd like to see him start working on some coaching skills. If we work it right, maybe we can keep him in the organization once his playing days are done. I wouldn't want to trade him away.

Burriss. He's raw. And the bigs isn't the best place to develop. He could use some more seasoning. But he plays hard, and seems to have to tools to improve. I'd like to see him stay with the team to see what he can be.

As Kawakami points out, Ortmeier hasn't "won over Bochy." And he is 27. But at the least, he's a good fourth fielder. We've burned through a bunch of these kinds of guys over the last few years. Until we're sure we have another good option, let's hang on to this guy.

For the rest? Can't say as I'd miss any of them. And that's probably the most disappointing part of the team this year. There aren't that many guys to get excited about.

Who are you following this year? Who should we keep, and who can go?