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MLB
Dave Dombrowski

David Price, Tigers expect max effort to strike deal

Bob Nightengale
USA TODAY Sports
Justin Verlander and David Price still give the Detroit Tigers two former Cy Young Award winners.

LAKELAND, Fla. - David Price joked with the Detroit Tigers clubhouse attendants Sundays, signed autographs for nearly 45 minutes, pumped fists with teammates' kids, and strolled out of the door for a leisurely drive back to his Tampa condo.

Yeah, baby, it's finally feeling like home again.

The $200 million question, or the minimum $150 million question, is how long will Detroit be Price's summer home?

If you asked Price last August when he was traded from Tampa to the Tigers, the odds were closer to the wind-chill factor these days in Detroit.

"It was extremely tough,'' said Price, who pitched for the Rays his entire career, and kept his Tampa condo. "That was definitely the most exhausted I've been mentally probably in my life.

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"That was the first time I ever really gone through anything of that nature.'

'

These days?

If the Tigers want to talk, he said Sunday that he's sure ready to listen, feeling comfortable enough with the Tigers these days where he could be signing a mega-contract extension and avoid the free-agent process.

"I would definitely welcome it,'' Price said. "If it's right for both of us, I'm sure we can make it happen. I definitely want to win. And this organization has done that extremely well in the past. That's definitely good.''

Yet, if the Tigers prefer to wait, and talk at the end of the season, Price says he's more than happy to embrace the opportunity of free agency.

"Absolutely,'' he says. "I think it's got to be appealing for everybody. You get pick what paper you write for. Or pick your job. It's very unique. Free agency is enticing.

"When you're a little kid, and create yourself for a video game, you pick which team you want to play for. Every time I was in Little League, I wanted to play for the Mets.''

Note to Mets executives: That was in Little League, not the big leagues.

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Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers president and GM, wouldn't divulge when the Tigers planned to enter into negotiations, but told USA TODAY Sports that he acquired Price last summer because he already knew there was no chance they would be retaining Max Scherzer.

"When we traded for David Price,'' Dombrowski said, "I didn't think we would sign Max. I didn't think we would sign Max since spring training, really. I thought we made good effort toward it. But I never felt like we were close. At that point, I didn't think we would really sign him.

"My instincts were that we would get David to not only help us last year, but to replace Max this year.''

The Tigers, who never again entered negotiations with Scherzer after he rejected their six-year, $144 million offer in the spring, watched him sign a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals. There were no hard feelings. It was simply a business decision.

When you've got $500 million invested in Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and Victor Martinez, you've got to save some money somewhere.

This is why the Tigers went out and acquired Alfredo Simon and Shane Greene, to replace Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly.

But when you're talking Scherzer, Dombrowski made it clear that Price is the one replacing him.

And, yes, there is room in the budget to keep Price around for the next six years, with plenty of money coming off the books next year.

"When we have players come here,'' Dombrowski says, "I don't remember anybody who didn't want to stay. But you have to expose them to that. You just can't jam it down their throats.''

Price, 29, is ready to talk whenever the Tigers call. He's not even giving them a timetable. There are no restrictions. If they want to talk after spring training, and during the season, that's fine, too.

"I'd probably rather not talk about it all year long,'' Price says. "But I don't feel like closing any doors.

"It doesn't have to be cut off. I just don't want to talk about it every day.''

Dombrowski says he would love future talks to be kept quiet, but Price is embracing free agency, and says he'll be glad to talk. He won't talk contract numbers, but will be happy to let people know when the talks do commence.

"I don't mind talking about it,'' Price said as he walked out of the Joker Marchant Stadium complex. "I just don't want to go through what Max went through. What he went through was crazy.''

The Tigers, remember, released a statement at the end of spring training declaring that negotiations had ended with Scherzer. It was quickly leaked that Scherzer rejected his $144 million contract. He pitched all season with everyone knowing exactly the gamble he was taking. It was unfair, and cruel at times, but it never affected Scherzer.

Dombrowski, who says the Tigers did not leak the numbers, believes his decision to release a public statement was beneficial. Scherzer pitched well, going 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA, and received the largest payday of the winter, and the largest contract ever for a right-handed pitcher.

And the Tigers won their fourth consecutive division title.

"We just felt like that instead of everybody asking the same question, and having the distraction,'' Dombrowski says, "we just let him know that was the end of it. We had broken off talks.

"So during the season, he didn't have to deal with those questions, and neither did we.

"No matter how you handle it, it will be debatable, but I think it worked out pretty well.''

Dombrowski doesn't know whether he would do the same, and make any public announcement if no deal is reached with Price. He wants to keep all negotiations silent, knowing that baseball secrets last as long as a deep-dish pizza at a fraternity party.

Still, when you've got one of the finest left-handers in the game on your staff, with Price pitching a league-high 248 1/3 innings to go along with his major-league leading 271 strikeouts, you take every advantage of your exclusive negotiating rights.

The Tigers, who scoff at critics who believe their window is closing, can perhaps help sway Price with another playoff run. Price already has become memorized by the sell-out crowds and passionate fan base. His teammates believe they once again are the team to beat in the American League Central.

And, oh yeah, and there's a certain former Cy Young winner on the staff who can't wait to prove that his struggles last year were simply an anomaly, and not the beginning of a decline.

"Yeah, why not?'' Verlander says, when asked if he could return to being the same 24-game winner who won the AL MVP award in 2011. "I don't mind proving people wrong.''

Neither does Price, who could be a Tiger a whole lot longer than anyone ever envisioned.

"I don't live in the future,'' Price says. "I don't live in the past. I want to focus on the present.

"I'm focused on being a Tiger. This is what I'm committed to right now.

"Right now this is home.

"And I'm fine with it.''

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