Chris Davis signing is official

Major League Baseball's leader in home runs officially is coming back to the Orioles.

First baseman Chris Davis passed his physical and signed his new contract, which covers seven years and guarantees him $161 million.

A large man signs the biggest contract in franchise history. Run with it.

The Orioles have scheduled a 7 p.m. press conference at Camden Yards, which will air live on MASN and 105.7 The Fan, to re-introduce Davis, 29, to the local media. He can fly back home to Dallas ahead of the pending snowstorm.

The Orioles acquired Davis and pitcher Tommy Hunter from the Rangers on July 30, 2011 for reliever Koji Uehara. He's hit .257/.341/.526 with 161 home runs in 617 games since the trade.

Davis, who's led the majors in home runs two of the past three seasons, received a partial no-trade clause. In keeping with Orioles policy, the contract doesn't include an opt-out.

The deal does includes $42 million in deferred money, as first reported by ESPN.com. Davis will receive $17 million annually from 2016-2022, with payments of $3.5 million from 2023-2032 and $1.4 million from 2033-2037. There's no interest on the deferrals.

"I'm glad the Orioles did what they had to do, because we need CD if we want to be competitive," said shortstop J.J. Hardy.

The lineup is just about set, with Davis at first, Jonathan Schoop at second, Hardy at shortstop, Manny Machado at third, Matt Wieters behind the plate, Adam Jones in center field and Hyun Soo Kim expected to start in left. Mark Trumbo figures to receive most of his at-bats as the designated hitter.

Right field is unsettled, with plenty of in-house candidates if the Orioles don't sign or trade for another outfielder. The main priority is finding a starter to replace left-hander Wei-Yin Chen.

The Orioles designated infielder Joey Terdoslavich for assignment to create room for Davis on the 40-man roster. He was claimed off waivers from the Braves on Jan. 8.