"At first, Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn't bite.

Asked where Vladimir Guerrero would hit in the Orioles' lineup, Showalter said he wanted to talk to the player first. He then turned to his new slugger and asked, "What do you think?"

A smiling Guerrero responded, "Four."

"I'll tell you what," Showalter told the reporter. "After a lot of consideration, he'll be in the four hole."

The moment added some levity to an otherwise anti-climatic news conference at Ed Smith Stadium on Friday attended by a handful of reporters and Guerrero's new teammates Jeremy Guthrie and Adam Jones. Guerrero, who agreed to terms with the Orioles on a one-year, $8 million deal two weeks ago, passed his physical and was officially unveiled as the team's designated hitter and cleanup hitter.

He put on his new No. 27 jersey and said through his agent and interpreter, Fernando Cuza: "I've been feeling very much at home. They are like family here."

Guerrero, 36, had been in the Orioles' clubhouse the previous two days to take his physical, his presence attracting curious gazes from a mostly young Orioles roster. A nine-time All-Star, Guerrero hit .300 with 29 homers and 115 RBIs for the Texas Rangers in 2010. He's a lifetime .320 hitter with 436 career home runs and 1,433 RBIs.

"I can't remember in recent memory where we've made a signing that has generated as much enthusiasm as this one has, not just among our fan base, which is obviously important, but our entire organization," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "I've been told and seen a little bit some of the wide-eyed amusement and the wide-eyed amazement that our players have shown when Vlad has come on, and how excited they are to have him."

MacPhail thanked owner Peter Angelos and said the decision to sign Guerrero was partly "ownership's objective to try to capture and sustain the momentum that we showed when Buck came on board in August and we played with almost a .600 winning percentage [34-23]."

The Orioles originally made an offer between $3 million and 4 million for Guerrero before ultimately meeting his $8 million asking price despite the fact that no other suitors for the player emerged. Already over the team's desired payroll for 2011, the Orioles deferred $3 million of Guerrero's contract to be paid in 2016 and 2017.

"The DH market this year really didn't develop the way we expected," Cuza said. "But all in all, when you really look back, we made this decision to come here.""