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This is really the difference between a great executive and a guy that has been promoted one level beyond his competency. Bavasi always seemed to have one plan and one plan only. He went into each off season projecting what he wanted ("left handed sock; innings eating starter, et al) and seemed to have no flexibility at all.
Jack, on the other hand, seems to have contingency stacked upon contingency. I doubt that there is any malice involved - he's probably got three or four other irons in the fire for the 1B/DH slots that we have no inkling of. His flexibility is unbelievable.
Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's right hand man) talks a lot about having different "mental models" for various business strategies and being able to switch one's mind between the models on the fly. He swears that's what makes Berkshire Hathaway so powerful - they don't have one rigid philospohy that they are captive of; he and Buffett have layer upon layer of these "mental models" and it allows them to analyze each situation or investment through multiple prisms and from wildly different angles. Munger's former right hand man uses the same techniques at his little startup (Overstock.com).
I think Jack is like that. It's fascinating.