"Though the results of new designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero's physical examination won't be available until at least Thursday and his contract won't be finalized until those results are in, his arrival in the clubhouse at the Ed Smith Stadium complex Wednesday morning created quite a buzz.

"God, it's good to see him,'' said pitcher Chris Tillman, who gained some SportsCenter fame when he bounced a pitch in front of Guerrero a couple of years ago and it still cost him a base hit. "I probably saw the replay of that 60 times during the postseason. Where do you throw it? You want to have a game plan, but there's really no game plan."

Every pitcher seems to have a Guerrero story. The guy is one all the all-time great free swingers, which means that the ball doesn't have to be in the strike zone to disappear from the ballpark. That makes him a popular guy among the pitchers — on his own team.

"Everyone is a Vlad fan because he can hit a pitch wherever it is pitched,'' said left-hander Brian Matusz. "I think he's got two or three home runs off me. Two last year. One was on a changeup right around the knees or a little below the knees, but to a guy like Vladimir, that's a strike."

The hitters are pretty stoked, too. Center fielder Adam Jones checked in Wednesday morning and quickly got acquainted with his potential Hall of Fame teammate. He's happy for the offensive help, and not just from Guerrero.

"I think all the guys we signed impact the lineup,'' Jones said. "He's the cleanup hitter, I would assume. His track record, you can pencil him into the cleanup spot. I think that throws away a lot of question marks and makes things easier."

Jones isn't planning to adopt Guerrero's hitting style, but he is looking forward to the opportunity to learn from a player who has 436 career home runs and a .320 career batting average.

"I think it's more that you can learn because he's been a winner and he's been successful,'' Jones said. "Anyone who's been successful, I think you can pick their brain in some aspect. I'm not going to ask him about everything he's ever learned, but I'm definitely going to pick his brain because he's a winner. I want to get that winning mentality that he has.""