PHOENIX – Bryan Price accepted a one-year contract as pitching coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday after determining he wasn't a serious candidate for the job to manage the Florida Marlins.

"My feeling was somewhere in the last couple of days it just didn't look like I would be involved, that I was going to be a consideration for the managerial position," Price said in a conference call on Monday.

Price, who lives in nearby Scottsdale, said he also spoke with new Detroit manager Jim Leyland about the pitching coach job there, but decided the Diamondbacks were the best fit. He will be reunited with manager Bob Melvin — the two were together for two years in Seattle.

Price, 43, spent 18 years with the Mariners organization, the last six as pitching coach.

Price said he planned to talk to all the Arizona pitchers through the offseason. He won't, however, try to contact Javier Vazquez, who is deciding whether to exercise a clause in his contract to demand a trade.

He will talk with Vazquez only if the pitcher wants to contact him, he said.

"He has some decisions to make," Price said. "I'd like to make myself available to him if he has some questions about me or what he an expect from me as a coach. I know the organization and myself would love to have him on the staff."

But, Price said, "I'm the new guy. He doesn't know me."

Price said his relationship with Melvin was a major factor in his decision to join the Diamondbacks.

"I know what I'm getting into here. I know what Bob's expectations are of me as a pitching coach," he said. "I know how badly he wants to win and how he prepares to win. We work well together that way. Beyond that, we're great friends, and I think great friendships are built on great trust. We've established that in our two years together in Seattle."