Price comfortable with Tigers, 'all ears' for extension

David Price is comfortable now.

And he was comfortable this afternoon, sitting on a cushioned chair behind a table bearing his name tag during the Detroit Tigers' winter caravan kickoff at Comerica Park.

The left-hander spoke at length about his time with the team since arriving in a trade at the end of July, his time until free agency and the time it took to get accustomed to Detroit.

"This is not somewhere that I disliked," he said. "I solely said that it was different, and it's not different anymore."

It's more normal now, Price said. He knows the players. He knows the coaches. He knows everybody's name, and "it was just a transition period," he said.

"I just wasn't comfortable yet," Price said. "Comfort comes with time, and I've had time here and I got to spend time with them last year on the field and away from the field, and it's a lot more comfortable now."

Price, 29, is one of baseball's top left-handers. In 2012, he won the American League Cy Young Award with the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2014, he posted a 3.26 ERA with a league-leading 248 1/3 innings and 271 strikeouts.

Price was acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, as part of a three-team deal with the Seattle Mariners.

"I felt the same way when I was in Tampa," he said about his first full season in 2009. "That's probably the way it was last year."

And next year, Price could be wearing a different uniform. He is due to hit free agency next winter.

He said he would be open to signing long-term with the Tigers, although he didn't elaborate on any current contract negotiations.

"I've been doing this for a while, so to get to that point where you can have your place to play or have your choice to pick where you want to play, this would definitely be on the list," he said.

General manager Dave Dombrowski also wouldn't elaborate on any contract extension talks with Price and his agent Bo McKinnis on Wednesday night in Grand Rapids. But he did say, "We hope he stays a Tiger for a long time."

"I'm open to anything," Price said.

He doesn't think that the free agent talk will be distracting this season -- "I feel like I've been through a lot more distracting things than a long-term extension" -- but he wants to be able to focus on baseball when April rolls around.

Price could be the marquee free agent pitcher on next winter's market. The marquee free agent pitcher on this year's market, right-hander Max Scherzer, just signed a seven-year, $210-million contract with the Washington Nationals, after five stellar seasons with the Tigers.

Price called that sum "surreal" and said he's definitely happy for Scherzer.

He spoke about a player's desire to hit free agency -- Price is one week short of six years in the big leagues -- and said that he sees both sides of the spectrum.

"Some of you does just kind of want to wait it out, but some of you wants to be like, 'Well, if they're open to doing something, you can't close any doors,'" he said.

"So that's the way I feel. I enjoy it here, I enjoy the staff and the guys and the stadium and everything of that nature," he said. "So I'm all ears."

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech .