masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSARASOTA, Fla. – The temperature at the Ed Smith Stadium complex won’t climb above the low 50s this afternoon and players are dressed accordingly, with hooded sweatshirts the uniform of the day.

There’s no snow on the ground, but it still qualifies as cold in Florida.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy, counted among the early arrivals, said he’s taking batting practice indoors, but it’s not entirely due to the weather. There’s a long wait to step into the cage with so many players already in…SARASOTA, Fla. – The temperature at the Ed Smith Stadium complex won’t climb above the low 50s this afternoon and players are dressed accordingly, with hooded sweatshirts the uniform of the day.

There’s no snow on the ground, but it still qualifies as cold in Florida.

hardy-fielding-gray-sidebar.jpgShortstop J.J. Hardy, counted among the early arrivals, said he’s taking batting practice indoors, but it’s not entirely due to the weather. There’s a long wait to step into the cage with so many players already in camp.

The clubhouse roll call between 8-9 a.m. consisted of Hardy, Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Steve Pearce, Ryan Flaherty, Jonathan Schoop, Darren O’Day, Ryan Webb, Zach Britton, David Lough, J.P. Arencibia, Ryan Lavarnway, Henry Urrutia, Brad Brach, Eddie Gamboa, Mike Wright, Wesley Wright, Chris Parmelee, Kevin Gausman, T.J. McFarland, Chris Tillman, Tommy Hunter, Travis Snider, Nolan Reimold, Wei-Yin Chen, Chris Jones, Alex Hassan, Tim Berry and Logan Verrett.

Jones has inherited Markakis’ old locker in one corner of the clubhouse. Cuban outfielders Urrutia and Dariel Alvarez are next to each other. O’Day brought his infant daughter into the clubhouse and was surrounded by teammates who wanted to see her.

New infielder Jayson Nix has been assigned a locker, but his nameplate doesn’t include a number. Hold off buying that jersey.

As I wrote previously, the Everth Cabrera deal won’t be finalized today. Executive vice president Dan Duquette will meet with reporters later to provide an update.

The morning clubhouse availability allowed the media to meet a few of the new Orioles, including Arencibia, a career .207/.255/.403 hitter in the majors.

Arencibia, signed as a free agent on Jan. 7 after four seasons in Toronto and one in Texas, sees a “great opportunity” with the Orioles.

“I know this league well. I’m familiar with it,” he said. “It’s good to be back in the AL East and obviously on a team that’s had great success.

“It came down to a decision at the end. The last day, I was able to talk to Dan Duquette and the other guys I was negotiating with. I had a really good feel of an opportunity here. I still feel like I have a real good ability to help the team win and that’s what I ultimately want to do is come in and do whatever I can to help this team win, and I know I’ve still got it.”

He’s got Matt Wieters ahead of him, but it wasn’t a deterrent when choosing a team.

“Obviously, Matt’s coming off an injury, so that’s something for him,” Arencibia said. “You can’t go back in and catch 150 games, and so that was another thing that was of interest to me.

“In other situations, it could have been an easier path. One, I wanted to be able to go to one great team, and two, to a situation where I know I can help a team win. And this is a team that wins and I know I can be an asset.”

ArencibiaSidebar.jpgThe familiarity with the city and the league factored into Arencibia’s decision.

“No doubt,” he said. “One, I love playing in Camden. I really enjoy playing there every year. Again, the AL East. Not taking anything away from the AL West, but it’s a different monster, and you get to play the Bostons and the New Yorks, and the Blue Jays and the Tampas, and it’s a gritty kind of baseball. It’s a tough league and I think that as a competitor you want to play against the best.”

Arencibia, 29, hasn’t been at his best since hitting 23 homers and driving in 78 runs with the Blue Jays in 2011. He was the Pacific League Most Valuable Player in 2010 and was sent back down last June.

“Last season was a tough year, but a great learning experience for me,” said Arencibia, who batted .177/.239/.369 in 63 games with the Rangers. “The tail end of 2013, I had a tough second half, then the beginning of 2014 I started off slow, so it was a good thing to be able to go down and reset, go down for a month. You kind of look at yourself in a mirror and you say, ‘I was once MVP of this league. Why am I back in it?’ It was something where I just kind of had to make adjustments and had to do things to further my career.

“I had too much ability to be where I was. It was a huge learning experience. I was able to get going, get back, have success. So then it was like something where I can still do damage, I can still help a team win. I can still do things on an everyday basis to help a team, whatever it may be.”

Arencibia, who’s married to The Band Perry lead singer Kimberly Perry, is eager to be reunited with new hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh.

“Coolbaugh was another big part of my decision,” he said. “He was with me for the month I was down. We had a good relationship. I figured that it was something that would be able to help me going into this season.

machado-stretch-tall.jpg“He’s able to use your strengths and try to highlight those. If you go around to every single guy, there’s going to be something different that clicks for them. As a professional, coming up especially, there’s so many people you work with. And I feel like the best ones take what you do and make it better.

“There’s a few guys in this game who can just go out and hit, but most guys need that. I think he does a real good job of seeing what clicks for that person and making you ultimately a better player.”

Update: The Orioles announced the Nix signing. He receives a minor league deal with an invite.

Manny Machado is in camp today. He was on the field stretching and doing some light running before heading into the weight room and later the indoor cage.

Steve Johnson also is in camp.