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I don't quite agree with the perception noted above regarding B vs. Z in talent/results.  But, I think it's one of subtlety.
Bavasi's reign was dominated by BIG MONEY acquisition of players with a track record of production.  These players largely had talent *AND* results.  It was the exception that had ONLY results, (Silva, HoRam). 
But Matt's in the endzone with the note on attention to AAA.  What I see as the defining difference (so far) between Bavasi and Z is that Captain Jack is balancing the needs of the present WITH the needs of the future.  With Bavasi, it was "what can I get to help TODAY?" with callous disregard for the future.  We need some sluggers for an ancient offense.  Gee, there's a 1b and 3b on the market - let's sink lots of money and years into them -- it'll help immediately.  "We need an ace to take the pressure off Felix, so we'll trade every piece that isn't immediately critical to get him."
The Bavasi era was punctuated with move after move that had NO backup plan.  What if Vidro flops?  What if Batista folds?  What if HoRam doesn't make the transition to the AL?  There was *NEVER* any evidence of a stoploss of any kind.  It seemed Bavasi was shocked whenever a player he acquired had a poor performance.  Which is why the club had Feierabend and Baek starting 20 games during a pennant chase.
Captain Jack selects players he has confidence in -- sometimes with past results, (Lee, Bradley, Sweeney), sometimes with talent (Aardsma, Guttierez).  But, at nearly every turn, he's making moves to handle the possibility of problems.  Players slump.  Players get hurt.  Players get suspended.  It happens.  A GM who isn't planning for these inevitabilities isn't doing his whole job.
Even when his stop-loss fails, (Cedeno behind YuBet), he works quickly to find an "improvement".  No fixation on trying to get "names" or "all stars".  The simple phrase that I think best applies is:  "How can we get BETTER -- today *AND* Tomorrow?  And if you accomplish that enough times, eventually you WILL become the best.  It gets harder, of course.  But, when his picks don't work out, (Cedeno, French, Olson), he heads back to the drawing board -- and soon we have Wilson/Wilson, Snell and are bringing up Fister.
The fact Redman and Shelton never came up is a good thing.  The fact that they were there in AAA was a VERY good thing.  But, when push came to shove, Z didn't "settle" for his first stop-loss.  He goes out and gets a Langerhans and a Hannahan basically free of charge.  In the Bavasi era, it would've been Mike Morse (again). 
The "how" is incredibly complex, but the foundation directive is dirt simple -- "This is what we've got.  How can we get better today AND tomorrow?"