The lineup and J.J. Hardy's place in it (with Davis update)

The Orioles could make Chris Davis' signing official later today and schedule a press conference at Camden Yards, or we may hear nothing before Friday. That's the best I can do for an update.

I'm still voting for any plan that allows me to avoid rush hour traffic on Friday as people flee the city in a snow panic.

Update: The Orioles are hoping to announce Davis' signing this afternoon. Stay tuned.

Davis gives the Orioles a much-needed left-handed bat and a feared hitter for the middle of their order. It doesn't matter if he's mired in a lengthy slump and striking out at an alarming rate. Opposing managers still must plan for him. He's always going to be deemed a threat.

Davis allows Adam Jones to bat third and Mark Trumbo fifth. That's how I envision it happening, the left-handed bat separating the two right-handed hitters. Switch-hitting Matt Wieters could bat sixth, followed by Jonathan Schoop and J.J. Hardy.

Of course, it would help if we knew the identity of the right fielder and whether manager Buck Showalter intended to bat Manny Machado first and Hyun Soo Kim second. He's not going to make a decision in January, no matter how many times he's pressed to give us a lineup.

Hardy, 33, could move up if he's 100 percent physically and regains his power stroke. He made adjustments to compensate for a sore shoulder and couldn't lose his singles swing.

Hardy hit 30, 22 and 25 home runs in his first three years with the Orioles, but he's combined for only 17 over the past two summers. He began last season on the disabled list with a left shoulder injury and didn't play until May 7. He also missed two weeks with a strained groin muscle, keeping him out of the lineup from Aug. 23 to Sept. 8.

Interviewed last month at FanFest, Hardy said the shoulder was "good, strong" and that he began working out earlier than usual.

"I'm actually holding more weight than I've ever done," he said. "It's a little bit different than anything I've done in the last 15 years, but I figured I'd try something different as I'm getting older. I think it's working."

Hardy produced a .219/.253/.311 slash line last year, career lows across the board, with only eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 114 games.

"It was very frustrating," said Hardy, who has two years and $26.5 million remaining on his contract, along with a $14 million vesting option and $2 million buyout in 2018. "I think the shoulder was good for a little while when the cortisone was working early and then it just became a little ...

"It was always there. It wasn't terrible, so I could play through it, but it wasn't good, either."

Showalter is expecting a much better Hardy in 2016, though he's more interested in what the three-time Gold Glove Award winner brings to the shortstop position.

"He's doing well," Showalter said last week.

Hardy's optimistic tone at FanFest wasn't lost on Showalter.

"If you know J.J., I'm not saying he's pessimistic, but that's a little unusual for him because he's very guarded and I think he's kind of cautious," Showalter said. "He wasn't real happy with the course of that season, but he didn't quit posting up and he set a great example. The two times I've talked to him, it's been, 'I'm good. This is going good.'

"We have a long memory of what he's capable of offensively for a middle infielder. Between him and Jon and Adam and Matt in the middle of the diamond, I'll match it up with anybody's."

Hardy's leadership can't be measured, but it's invaluable to the Orioles. Machado and Schoop have relied on him and built confidence through his affirmation.

"Through times when there's a certain not sure, it's that Jon and Manny know and they've got a real strong feeling about something during the course of the game, but getting that affirmation and have what their thoughts are reaffirmed by J.J. gives them a real quiet confidence," Showalter said.

"It's not like we can call a timeout like they do in football and run out on the field and go over it every time, unless there's some of these teams where the catcher goes out 30 times a game. We're not going to do that."

I see what he did there.

Note: Ed Smith Stadium, the Orioles' spring training home, will receive the Field of the Year Award for professional baseball from the Sports Turf Managers Association. Head groundskeeper of Florida operations Dan Thomas will accept the award this week at the 27th annual STMA Conference & Exhibition in San Diego.

The award is considered the highest honor in the industry, given annually to various sporting grounds members at the professional, collegiate, schools, and parks and recreation levels. Among all sporting grounds entries, a panel of 15 judges rated sporting grounds based on playability, appearance of surfaces, utilization of innovative solutions, and effective use of budget and implementation of a comprehensive agronomic program.

Shameless plug alert: I'm joining MASN's Jim Hunter again tonight from 6-7 p.m. at Dempsey's Brew Pub & Restaurant for the "Hot Stove Show" on 105.7 The Fan.

Pitchers Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy are scheduled to call us.