CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox did not just have to sell Adam LaRoche on coming to a team with consecutive losing seasons, they had to convince him to relinquish some responsibilities for the benefit of the team.

The sales pitch worked as the slugging left-handed hitter agreed to join the White Sox as a free agent last week. The contract was made official Tuesday.

It was probably the $25 million over two years that sealed much of that sales pitch, and LaRoche admitted the team’s financial commitment was impressive. But it still took LaRoche some time to be comfortable with the fact that he wouldn’t be a primary first baseman anymore.

A reduction of playing team on defense gave pause to the National League’s 2012 Gold Glove winner at first base.

“Absolutely, it did because honestly it never crossed my mind that I would sign as a DH somewhere, even a part-time DH,” LaRoche said. “I never, for whatever reason, I never even thought of the possibility or would I like to do it, or would I not want to do it.”

Manager Robin Ventura clarified the situation Tuesday, saying at this early time he sees LaRoche playing about two games of first base a week while standout rookie Jose Abreu handles the rest.

Any defensive metric will say that LaRoche is far and away the team’s better defensive option. The White Sox aren’t blind to that, they have just elected to make a decision in an area that isn’t so black and white.

With the kind of season Abreu had in 2014, you don’t take away responsibilities, you would prefer to add on more. And even though Abreu’s monster rookie season was lauded mostly for what he did on offense, the White Sox weren’t comfortable penalizing him for his defense.

“Jose just wants to win and there’s a certain amount of respect he has earned,” Ventura said. “I think that’s part of who he is: he wants to be a good first baseman and I think he will be. Part of it is you want to keep him comfortable with the kind of season that he had and the other part is Adam is still a pretty good first baseman.

“You look at both of those combinations and we’ll be able to discuss that more when we get into spring training and how the season starts. But both guys have earned certain respect that you have to look at and make decisions on.”

LaRoche revealed that the White Sox came at him with a strong offer the minute free agency kicked off. They also held strong with their idea that he would have to clock in more time at DH, although plenty of chances to play first are ahead.

“Robin had a very good conversation with Adam early in this process, explaining to him how he fit,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “And I actually had the opportunity to sit down with Jose in Chicago when he was here on business and talk about it face to face. Jose was, not surprisingly to those how know him, very enthusiastic about the move. He felt that it made us stronger from a lineup standpoint and was going to benefit both he and Adam to have them both in that role between DH and first base.

“The bottom line is we expect Jose to be with us for a long period of time and to play first base for the bulk, if not all of that. So he’s going to continue to get the majority of opportunities out there as his defensive skills continue to develop.”

As it turns out, it wasn’t all that difficult for Ventura to be so persuasive. LaRoche has plenty of respect for his new manager, having known him since he as a kid. LaRoche’s father Dave was a White Sox bullpen coach from 1989-91, which just so happens to be the time period that Ventura broke into the major leagues.

“Talking to him on the phone and hearing his voice brought back memories: A laid back guy who enjoys being around here,” LaRoche said. “Getting ready for a big league game you have 10- and 11-year-old punks hanging around, and he took the time to treat us the way he did and hang out with us. I always had respect for that.”

Ventura’s laid-back ways aren’t always lauded by all, but in this case his easy-going style from some 25 years ago seems to have played a role in landing a key free agent.

“I think I had a lot of respect for his dad,” Ventura said. “I think it’s been well documented I had a rough start. Guys like his dad were people you bounce ideas off of and they give you confidence in different ways and you’re able to do that with his kid.

“There’s a lot of give and take, but I’m happy that Adam did choose the White Sox and if that had anything to do with it, great. I think the whole experience was the White Sox family at the time, how the whole (club) treated him, not just me.”

The plan to play just 50-60 games at first base might not have been LaRoche’s ideal, but he has quickly come to terms with it.

“I told Robin, I would hate to come to a situation somewhere where I totally give up first base because I feel like I can still be very productive on the defensive side; I said physically I still feel great,” LaRoche said. “I'm not in the position yet, thankfully, where I need to be off my feet a bunch and where defense kind of affects me physically.”

Ventura made his case.

“Talking to him, they have a tough spot,” LaRoche said. “They've got a kid (Abreu) that's obviously going to be around and be really good for a long time. It's not fair to make him a full-time DH this early in his career, especially when he can handle first base and handle the glove over there.

“I'll do it however it plays out. If they need me to play first more than we're talking about, great, I'll be there. If I end up DHing more, that's fine. I'm looking forward to hopefully being in the middle of that lineup and having a chance to drive some runs in.”