Will the Giants pay Yusmeiro Petit next year?

Feels like there should be a weekly reminder of what Yusmeiro Petit did in the 2014 NLDS. No, a daily reminder. No, you should hire someone to follow you around, an intern or college kid or something, and whisper "Remember Yusmeiro Petit" into your ear every hour, on the hour. It's the least you can do. The absolute least.

Also, Petit might not be back next year because the Giants don't want to pay him.

If you'll remember the state-of-the-Giants press conference from three weeks ago, Bobby Evans was specifically asked about Petit.

Evans also was non-committal on tendering a contract to Yusmeiro Petit, although cutting him loose would appear to be an obvious move after a disappointing season.

It was a disappointing season at first, certainly, but at some point Petit stopped allowing runs. Here's his Giants career:

ERA
2013: 3.56
2014: 3.69
2015: 3.67

ERA+
2013: 97
2014: 94
2015: 103

Last year was pretty much in line with what he's done for the Giants since coming over. His FIP tells a different story (4.09 this year, compared to sub-3.00 FIPs in the previous two years), but he's been a quality innings-eater. After getting slapped around on July 4, Petit threw 28 innings, walking four and striking out 30. He allowed just seven earned runs. In the second half of the season, he was outstanding.

The Giants' record in those post-break Petit games: 6-14. Which is kind of the problem.

Over the last two years, the Giants are 23-58 in games with a Petit appearance. That's staggering. And it suggests that either:

a. The Giants don't know how to use Petit effectively, or

b. They have so much bullpen depth, the only possible role for Petit is as an extreme mop-up man.

Or it could be a combination of the two, which would mean that it's probably best for everyone involved if Petit went somewhere else. He made $2.1 million in arbitration last year, which hints that he could earn as much as $4 million or more next year. You can pay someone a lot less to appear in games that are already over.

So if Petit leaves, there isn't going to be a whole lot of angst from this corner, because either the Giants are right about Petit not being suited for high-leverage situations, or they're wrong, but they'll never find out.

No, the angst will be reserved for that mystery thing that happens next year, that mystery ... thing, where we look around and say, "You know who would have been perfect for this role? Yusmeiro danged Petit." Then the intern next to you will whisper "Remember Yusmeiro Petit" into your ear. Because I find it hard to believe that a league-average innings-eater making below-market money is a liability, and if the Giants ditch him, it'll be because they just didn't know how to use him.

On the other hand, it's not like I want to see him in the eighth inning of a one-run game, so I kind of get it, too. Not to mention if he starts the season in the rotation, something will have gone quite wrong. Maybe Petit is kind of expensive for a fire extinguisher, especially when that money could be funneled into fire prevention.

Vote in the poll. I want him back, but I'm kind of a fanboy. On the other hand, I'd like to think of myself as a pragmatist, too, and even though the Giants haven't been great about finding the right situations for Petit, that doesn't mean he can't have value for them in the future.