Farhan Zaidi is reshaping Giants' future to resemble recent past

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - When the pitchers and catchers of the San Francisco Giants reported to camp a few days ago, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi assembled the group for a meeting.

During a decade with the Oakland Athletics and four seasons as Dodgers general manager, Zaidi developed a reputation for his embrace of innovation and his distaste for dogma. Now he sought to dispel any worries about the repercussions of that philosophy, specifically as it related to his willingness to use relievers to open games.

Zaidi pointed to relievers Pat Venditte and Tony Watson, who played for the Dodgers.

"Do you guys remember us using the opener 50 times a year?" Zaidi said he asked Venditte and Watson. "Or ever?"

Both players agreed that it was not a common practice. After