Zito feeling less pressure

LEFT-HANDER LEAVING LAST SEASON BEHIND

Andrew Baggarly-Mercury News

The Giants can hand the baseball to Matt Cain on opening day - or Tim Lincecum, Noah Lowry or Gaylord Perry.

It won't bother Barry Zito.

"I'm literally, 'Do what you want to do,' " said Zito, who made the rounds at the Giants' annual FanFest at AT&T Park on Saturday. "I'm just going to bust my (butt) and make pitches. Some guys can use that as something to light a fire under their tail. I don't operate like that. Out of sight, out of mind."

Zito will have much less on his mind as he enters his second season with the Giants. For one, he is no longer the highest-paid pitcher in major league history. The Chicago Cubs' Carlos Zambrano eclipsed the average annual value of his seven-year, $126 million contract last season, and just last week, the New York Mets gave Johan Santana a seven-year deal worth more than $150 million.

Zito arrived at FanFest with a preppy haircut and 10 pounds lighter. After a rough first season with the Giants, he said he won't play to justify anything this time.

"I want to perform the way I know I can, but I'm not going into the season with a big vendetta or a monkey on my back," the left-hander said. "I went into last season with something to prove and it just didn't work out."

Zito became engulfed in controversy from the very start last spring, when he showed off a revamped, unorthodox delivery in his first mound session. Should we expect him to throw any differently for the club's first workout on Wednesday?

"Other than right-handed, it's pretty much status quo," he said, smirking.

• Now that Barry Bonds is no longer a Giant, there has been some sentiment among left-handed hitters to change the dimensions in right field - perhaps lowering the 25-foot wall - to make the park more hitter-friendly.

But managing partner Peter Magowan said there have been no discussions about altering the park's dimensions.

"I know some people would like to cut the wall in half or bring it in 40 feet or whatever, but we're not going to do that," Magowan said. "It's the same for both sides. I think that's part of the reason people come to our ballpark. The games are fun to watch because of the way the ballpark is configured."

• During his question-and-answer session, General Manager Brian Sabean was asked about being in the Mitchell report and his impending meeting with Commissioner Bud Selig.
"Believe me, and I don't say this rashly, we know a lot more about this subject matter than what's out there," Sabean told fans. "So trust us."

• The Giants estimated a crowd of 21,000 attended FanFest, which was about on par with last year's attendance.

All scheduled players appeared, though Bengie Molina, Omar Vizquel and Noah Lowry were noticeably absent.