Britton on wanting to be with the Orioles "my whole career"

The non-tender deadline didn't bring an ounce of drama for closer Zach Britton. Not a speck. A gnat's eyelash carried more weight.

The only uncertainty pertained to the Orioles reaching agreement with Britton on a 2017 contract without going to an arbitration hearing.

Britton accepted an $11.4 million offer on Jan. 13, the deadline before the sides exchanged salary figures. He made $6.75 million last season.

Britton approached the deadline with the same confidence and composure that he displays on the mound.

"Surprised, I guess, this year because I feel like I was always the last person to get done. So, yeah, I was definitely excited to not have to deal with that," he said Thursday night on the "Hot Stove Show" on 105.7 The Fan.

"We knew the Orioles' position. I guess they were file and trial with a lot of guys. A lot of times, that kind of just speeds up the process to an extent. But we had great negotiations.

"Scott Boras and Dan (Duquette) have always had good discussions and I think it carried over into this year. We didn't really have anything that we felt like was going to be a sticking point to where we needed to go to a hearing, which was nice to know right away."

Duquette broached the subject of a contract extension during negotiations on the 2017 deal, but nothing came of it.

"We did talk about maybe a longer-term deal and it kind of maybe got put on the back burner a little bit so we could get the one-year deal out of the way, but it's something that I'm definitely interested in," said Britton, a free agent after 2018. "I'm not sure what the Orioles' plans are long-term for me, but I know that they have my rights for another season, so worst-case scenario I'm still here for another year, but obviously I'd like to extend that and be with the Orioles my whole career.

"I've been here since I was 18, so maybe it would be kind of weird, I feel like, to go anywhere else. But like I said, a lot of it has to do with what the team wants to do going forward, and hopefully we can maybe start talks up later when they wrap up contracts with everybody else."

The Orioles must decide how much they want to pay a closer. They weren't willing to go $10 million with Jim Johnson, which proved wise, but Britton is a special case. And the price for ninth-inning specialists is going through the roof.

Aroldis Chapman received a five-year, $86 million deal from the Yankees. Kenley Jansen re-signed with the Dodgers for $80 million over five years. Mark Melancon signed with the Giants for $62 million over four years.

None of them registered a 0.54 ERA and went 47-for-47 in save opportunities.

How do you improve on perfection? Go 48-for-48?

"You know what? I've thought about it a little bit," Britton said. "Every season, you go in and want to be perfect or you try to be perfect. The numbers showed that, yeah, I converted all the save opportunities I had, but I think there's still things that I can improve on. I mean, no season's perfect down to every little thing that you did, whether that's finding something else in my routine to get me prepared for games, or sometimes pitch selection.

"Hitters are going to make adjustments on me and I've got to constantly make adjustments if you want to be successful every year. You've got to do something different. Your body's different every year, the hitters are different every year, the circumstances that you come into games are different every year, so you can never be complacent.

"I have a lot of things that I want to adjust going forward, but the same core principles are there and those are things that I've developed the last three years. Working out with Brady (Anderson), that's a starting point. Your offseason workout is kind of your foundation, so they all work together. And there are areas I still want to improve on.

"I was very happy with the season last year, but I'm trying to now turn the page and get ready and see what I've got to do to be successful this next year."

Shameless plug alert: I'm on "Wall to Wall Baseball" today from noon-2 p.m. on MASN, because I trust that you won't get sick of me.