And whatever form the revolution takes, Barry Zito wants to be at the forefront of it.

"The change in the clubhouse will be dramatic," said Zito, who left the A's to sign a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Giants in December. "We'll have to find our own identities, and some veterans are going to have to step up and take leadership over this clubhouse.

"Even if it was in a non-verbal way, Barry was still the leader. I'll take that on myself, definitely. I've got the least amount of time here, but that's something I look forward to: to step up and just really be the leader that I was over there (with the A's) and help the guys here.

"In Oakland, there really wasn't a presence like a Bonds. You can't find that anywhere in baseball."

Over Bonds' 15-year tenure, the Giants' team culture has been labeled everything from unusual to dysfunctional. Bonds didn't call team meetings, organize fantasy football leagues or take players to task for not hustling. But for better or worse, the clubhouse was his domain and teammates always took their cues from him.

That's why some baseball observers believed the Giants could not rebuild as long as Bonds continued to own the room.

It's an assertion that General Manager Brian Sabean characterizes as unfair.

"I don't know if you'd look in years past if Jeff Kent would say it was Barry's room," Sabean said. "Every team is different, every group dynamic is different. When you have a star player, they're going to dominate a lot of things... that go on in, as you say, the room."

Zito, who has a very good relationship with Bonds, said the 43-year-old slugger wasn't a distraction and that he mostly kept to himself.

"Barry has such a strong presence that he doesn't have to say anything," Zito said. "As for the 'dysfunctional' thing, it doesn't seem different from any other club I've been on. The other 24 guys function. Whenever you have a super-superstar, there's going to be a different dynamic on the team. That's just how it is.

"But whether we're functioning more like a quote-unquote normal team next year, I don't know if it'll be better or worse. It'll just be different."

Giants infielder Rich Aurilia, who has been Bonds' teammate longer than any other player on the roster, said he isn't sure what the clubhouse culture will be without Bonds. But if Zito wants to throw himself into the breach, Aurilia would support him.

"With them signing Zito here for the amount of money they did, he'll be the de facto guy," Aurilia said. "And I think if he wants that, he can be that. We're going to need it because we'll have a lot of younger guys here."

The Giants' clubhouse already has the feel of a house in escrow. Bonds spent the past two days signing items for teammates. Zito joked with an attendant that Matt Cain should move into Bonds' corner space next year.

The shock is starting to settle in.

"We all understand the situation, but it's still shocking," Aurilia said. "People are more stunned they won't see him in this uniform."

Aurilia said he never begrudged Bonds the media attention the club received because of him, but he welcomed a less hectic environment next year.

"We all saw how it was this year," Aurilia said. "There were a lot of people around, and they should be. Barry has done a lot of great things in this game. Hopefully next year we have a relaxed atmosphere. We didn't play the way we wanted to and it had nothing to do with Barry. We just didn't perform up to our potential. But hopefully it'll be a different dynamic next year when we try to go in this new direction."

Aurilia isn't sure where the direction will lead. He just hopes it includes more laughs.

"I don't feel a lot of us had fun this year, whether it was because we didn't perform the way we wanted to or something else," he said. "Winning and fun go hand in hand, but you can still have fun otherwise. The more fun you have, the more relaxed you feel and the better you play.

"I think we have a decent core of guys here to get us off on a positive note next year, and our young pitching is a big positive. So hopefully we can come out next year, compete and be in the race."

Cain hasn't known any team other than one that includes Bonds. His concern isn't replacing the guy in the clubhouse, but in the lineup.