SARASOTA, FLA. — As Pedro Alvarez tried on his new home white Orioles uniform for the first time before a crowd of cameras and reporters Thursday afternoon, manager Buck Showalter patted his new slugger on the back and quietly told him, “You clean up good.”

Gone was Alvarez's trademark beard, replaced with a clean-shaven face to adhere to the Orioles' policy on facial hair.

About a dozen of his new teammates stood at the back of the room. An hour earlier, Alvarez had wanted to get to know his teammates right away, joining them for batting practice before the Orioles' Grapefruit League game against the New York Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium.

He had waited long enough to get back onto the field. Alvarez went unsigned all offseason after being nontendered by the Pittsburgh Pirates in December. So when he officially signed a one-year, $5.75?million contract with the Orioles — giving the team six players who have hit at least 30 homers in a season — he wanted to get right to work.

“Patience is the key,” Alvarez said, putting on a No. 29 Orioles jersey. “Obviously, it was something different, but you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I just took it day by day and tried to prepare as best as possible for when the time came.”

The Orioles' pursuit of Alvarez dated to November, when the club tried to work out a trade with the Pirates before the nontender deadline. They couldn't complete a deal, but when he wasn't offered a contract by the Pirates and became a free agent, the Orioles remained interested. With the return of first baseman Chris Davis then uncertain, the Orioles were in desperate need of a powerful left-handed hitter.

Alvarez, 29, always seemed a good fit for the Orioles, even after they went on an unprecedented spending spree this offseason, highlighted by a club-record, seven-year, $161?million commitment to Davis.

“My thought process was, my path could take me anywhere,” Alvarez said. “There were 29 other ballclubs out there that I could have ended up on. … Who wouldn't want to come and potentially be in a lineup with the guys that are here already? You know the staff that's here [is] very respected. [It is] just a well-rounded organization. It's got a lot of pros to being here, and obviously those are things that played into the decision.”

With the addition of Alvarez, the Orioles have committed to spend about $242 million in free agency since the end of last season.

From the moment Pittsburgh made Alvarez the No. 2 overall pick in 2008 out of Vanderbilt, big things were expected from him. He was the franchise's first pick under current general manager Neal Huntington. Even though Alvarez averaged 28 homers over the past four seasons — he led the National League in homers once and in strikeouts once — his playing time waned because of his struggles against left-handed pitching and his below-average fielding.

He was projected to make about $8?million this year in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and the Pirates nontendered him. On the Orioles, the pressure is off Alvarez. He is just one of several mashers that give the batting order the potential to become one of baseball's most prolific ever.

“Keep in mind this guy was the second pick in the country and if he doesn't hit 60 home runs, there was something wrong,” manager Buck Showalter said. “And all of a sudden, he's over here with a bunch of [other power] guys and nobody cares what he came into. There's a nice window of opportunity for this guy. … There's nothing wrong with the scenery he left. He's a good fit for us.”

Executive vice president Dan Duquette is eager to see how Alvarez's opposite-field power plays at Camden Yards.

“I believe Pedro will be comfortable in Baltimore when he hits one out to left-center field that would have been caught in Pittsburgh,” said Duquette, alluding to the 389-foot power alley in left-center at PNC Park. “That's when he'll feel at home at Camden Yards. He's got the power to hit a lot of balls to left field. The park is a lot more hitter-friendly. ... So, I think it's a good fit for everybody, and we are looking forward to having him on the club.”

Alvarez slots as the Orioles' designated hitter against right-handed pitching, but Showalter said he doesn't want to close the door on his playing the field.

“I don't believe in setting limitations about him being a DH against right-handed pitching,” Showalter said. “It's much more than that. ... Some people don't realize this is an athletic guy who's got potential to give us a lot of options around the field. He's just not going to be a pure DH. He's shown the ability to do damage against left-handed pitching, too.”

Alvarez has a career .794 on-base-plus-slugging percentage against right-handed pitching but is a career .203/.270/.332 hitter against lefties.

“We did a lot of looking at it, about how it fit and what we're trying to do here,” Showalter said. “We think there's some versatility there that can help us and provide a lot of what-ifs in different places if we get bumps along the way. I don't put any limitations on it. I don't really go into it with any preconceived ideas. I know he's going to give us ability to do a lot of different things and make everybody else better, like he talks about.”

Alvarez signed 15 days after the Orioles' first full-squad workout, so he tried to get into the flow right away Thursday, taking batting practice before the game against the Yankees. He then did some work at first base with infield coach Bobby Dickerson and utility man Ryan Flaherty, Alvarez's friend and former college teammate at Vanderbilt.

“Everyone that plays this game has that competitive edge and just wants to be out there,” Alvarez said. “This is new for me. I've never done this before, so we are taking the approach we need to take, which is smart but aggressive at the same time. I'm working with everyone to get up to speed.”

Showalter said he'd like to get Alvarez into a game quickly, but he likely won't be in the lineup before Sunday's game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers.

“Today, he was like in there [and I was asking], ‘What are you thinking? What have you been doing? Where are we at?' [He said], ‘I'm ready, let's go.' … I don't care how much work you've been doing, and obviously he's been doing a lot from seeing him in the reports we were getting, you still go through a period in the spring where ‘I feel like I haven't done anything.' … It won't be [today]. It won't be the next day unless he's a really good salesman.”

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