Frazier thinking long-term relationship with White Sox

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Todd Frazier has been with the White Sox for a little more than two weeks, and it already feels like home. So much so, Frazier is talking like he wants to be a White Sox beyond the two years he’s under team control right now.

“If the atmosphere is like this, this is where I want to play for the rest of my life,” Frazier told the Sun-Times Saturday morning. “It’s awesome, it’s a great time. The guys have been nothing but great to me and I’m here to help as much as I can. When they welcome you as they’ve welcomed me I want to return the favor.”

“That’s great to hear,” said White Sox manager Rick Hahn, who traded a package of top prospects — Trayce Thompson, Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson — to get Frazier, an All-Star at third baseman in each of his last two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. “He’s still getting to know us, we’re still getting to know him and it’s a matter of making sure there is comfort on both sides for a long-term relationship. When we acquired him (I thought) that this could develop into something more than two years he’s under control.”

Frazier is thinking the same thing.

“Most definitely,” Frazier said. “Whenever he wanted to [discuss an extension], that would be great. I haven’t even been to the city yet and I feel like this is true to where I need to be right now. It’s a fun place. You can be here in Arizona [during spring training]. It’s a fun team.”

It’s early, but Frazier knows a good vibe and he’s enjoying it with the Sox.

“Very much so,” said Frazier, 30, who had spent his entire professional career with the Reds. “I feel comfortable, I feel like I belong. It’s weird, you don’t know what to expect, to be honest, and it’s really been a fun time so far.”

Frazier will make $8.25 million in 2016 and will be arbitration-eligible for the last time in 2017 before he becomes eligible for free agency.

Frazier adds a power bat to the middle of the lineup, a good glove to the infield and an upbeat, confident, social and talented presence to the clubhouse. That he fits with at mid-season comfort level is “crazy,” Frazier said.

“It is,” he said. “It’s something you don’t take for granted. It’s something you don’t joke about. I feel like I’m just starting out again. It’s a new chapter. At the end of the day it’s baseball but at the end of the day it’s not because you have to figure out a whole new team, whole new friendships and it’s been a really easy process for me.”