Britton on his contract, last season and 2015

We've flipped the page on the calendar and the Orioles need to pick up the pace and get closer Zach Britton signed for the 2015 season.

A hearing will take place later this month if the sides don't reach agreement.

Britton submitted at $4.2 million and the Orioles countered at $2.2 million. He made $521,500 last season.

Asked at FanFest if he had any updates, Britton replied, "No. We're still in the negotiation process. We have some time up until the hearing. We're just in the process. Not a whole lot more than that that I can update."

We weren't ready to change the subject.

I get the sense that the Orioles expect to reach agreement before a hearing.

"I'm not sure," said Britton, who's represented by the Boras Corporation. "Where we are right now, we're still negotiating. There's been a lot of dialogue the last couple of days, but right now there's really nothing to update other than we're just talking."

Miguel Gonzalez, also without a contract, was in a wedding yesterday and didn't attend FanFest. Alejandro De Aza didn't have any updates on his negotiations, but I anticipate that he'll end up in a hearing.

Britton's not exactly a ball of stress over his situation. He came to camp last spring out of options, transitioned to a relief role, inherited the closer's job and saved 37 games in 41 chances. He's got a big raise coming, no matter the amount.

How has this winter been different for Britton?

"Being a dad," he replied. "No free time, but it's been great. I stuck to the same workout I did last offseason in California with Miggy (Miguel Gonzalez). I think from that aspect everything's going really well. I'm just looking forward to getting down to Florida pretty soon."

This spring must feel different. Right?

"I try not to treat it like that," he said. "I feel like I've got to go into the same mindset as last year. I think it worked out pretty good. I've got to just take that same mindset and not feel like I'm entitled or I have anything in the bag. I think that's when you get off to a slow start during the season and I don't want that to happen.

"I want to be ready in the spring. I think that's just being competitive. I want to have a good spring. I don't want to have to ease my way in and that's kind of the mindset I have going into this year."

Britton posted the same 3.86 ERA in the American League Division Series and Championship Series, allowing one run in 2 1/3 innings. He permitted three hits and walked four against the Royals.

"We wanted to go farther than what we did," he said. "Personally, I wanted to be a little bit better than I was a couple of those last outings in the postseason, but looking back there's some positives from each of those outings. It didn't end as great as I wanted to, not as good as the regular season, but I learned a lot.

"It's my first year out of the bullpen, not just being a closer but being in the bullpen, what I need to do. And I talked to Dave (Wallace) and Dom (Chiti) a lot about having a better routine this year and continuing to learn and grow in that role."

The Orioles' relievers miss Andrew Miller, who signed with the Yankees, but they resent the notion that they're not as good without him.

"I spoke with Andrew quite a bit during the offseason, was hoping we could get him back," Britton said. "Obviously, it didn't work out with the numbers, but he even mentioned it. He was like, 'Man, you guys were a great bullpen before I even got there.'

"He was a big need for us, another lefty kind of late in the game and what he did was impressive, but we were in first place by a pretty good margin by the time we got him, so the talent's there. It's just somebody's going to have to step up and take over what he did. We're not asking anybody to match his performance, but somebody just to come in and be effective."