Ok, this is a constant ongoing argument with me any my friends...my theory is...
him and his agent have said a couple things...one is that he wants to finish his career with SF. also, they said he will play next year if hes healthy...now, both things pose problems. IF HE IS HEALTHY, he'd need to resign a short, but expensive contract. probably a one year, 18 mil contract or something (im not too sure how much of a pay cut players can take). now, for someone to re-sign him for that much, they better be getting their money's worth, i.e. he'd probably need to DH, which means an AL team with a big payroll will sign him. who's willing to take that risk? my guess would be the Angels. but that wont happen.
what i'd like to see happen? have the giants re-sign him, even tho it'd be pretty rediculous for them to do so. that money can go somewhere. but it would be cool to see him return for the all-star game at home.
what will probably happen? he'll wait till the late winter to decide to retire.