Santana poised to set salary record

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Johan Santana

If he passes a physical, the former Twins ace will become the wealthiest pitcher in history with his new contract.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: February 2, 2008 - 8:24 AM

Johan Santana will receive $21.5 million per season -- or about $632,352 per appearance and $6,337 per pitch -- under the terms of the record-setting agreement he reached Friday with the New York Mets.

Apparently, those no-trade clauses have their benefits.

Santana agreed to waive his no-trade clause after the Mets agreed to a six-year, $137.5 million extension, bringing their blockbuster deal with the Twins one step from completion.

Santana, who turns 29 in March, will undergo a physical this morning in New York.

Assuming everything checks out, the trade that would send Santana to the Mets for four prospects -- Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra -- will become official.

And Santana will own the richest contract for any pitcher in baseball history.

"Negotiations between the Mets and Johan and his agents have concluded," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said. "He's going to take a physical tomorrow, and we'll have an announcement at that time."

Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, was set to make $13.25 million this year.

He rejected a four-year, $80 million extension from the Twins in November before the team began shopping him on the trade market.

The Twins and Mets agreed upon New York's four-player package Tuesday, and the commissioner's office granted the Mets a 72-hour window to negotiate with Santana.

The deadline was 4 p.m. Friday. Major League Baseball extended that window for an additional two hours before the agreement was finalized.

"I'm looking forward to getting this behind us, so we can talk about the players [changing sides] instead of the negotiation process," Smith said.

Smith and Twins President Dave St. Peter declined to comment specifically on Santana's new deal, but the team's offices were buzzing with the news.

Last fall, Torii Hunter rejected a three-year, $45 million offer from the Twins before signing his five-year, $90 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

Carlos Silva rejected a three-year, $18 million offer before signing his four-year, $48 million deal with Seattle.

Now this.

The extension would give Santana a seven-year contract worth $150.75 million over seven years. The deal also could include an additional option year.

In total value, Santana would own the fourth richest contract in baseball history behind Alex Rodriguez ($275 million), Derek Jeter ($189 million) and Manny Ramirez ($160 million).

The next closest pitchers to Santana on that list are Barry Zito ($126 million), Mike Hampton ($121 million) and Kevin Brown ($105 million).

Notably, those are the only other pitchers who have signed contracts worth more than $100 million, and many in the industry view each deal with scorn.

Santana's $21.5 million average annual salary will make him the second highest salaried player behind Rodriguez, whose new 10-year deal with the Yankees will pay him a cool, $27.5 million per year.

According to ESPN.com, Santana opened his negotiations with the Mets by asking for $28 million per year. After getting Santana to relent on salary, the Mets reportedly tried to get him to accept a five-year extension, but he held out for six.

Eventually, he got his wish.

In four seasons as a full-time starter for the Twins, Santana went 70-32, averaging 34 starts and 3,393 pitches and 246 strikeouts per season.

If he keeps that last pace going, the Mets will be paying $87,398 per whiff.

Yes, but the value of landing baseball's biggest offseason catch?

Priceless.

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