Santana has no hard feelings about trade

Johan Santana spent several weeks of his offseason with family and friends in his native Venezuela, trying to ignore trade rumors while wondering if the Twins and his agent could somehow work out a contract extension.

"We just waited, and it is tough to keep it out of your mind sometimes," he said.

On Wednesday, the star lefthander will be introduced as the newest member of the New York Mets. He will be armed with a six-year, $137.5 million contract, making the Twins' four-year, $80 million extension offer look extremely inadequate -- but not inadequate enough to have Santana complaining on his way to the Big Apple.

In his first public comments since the trade, Santana spoke of how negotiations with the Twins fell short, how he sought clarity to his situation before spring training and how he hopes the four players the Twins received for him -- outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra -- will be a good haul for the Twins.

"It's kind of hard to believe," Santana said during a phone conversation from his home in Fort Myers, Fla. "I was hoping I would get something done with the Twins, but it didn't happen. I know I'm going to a team that will give me a chance to win.

"From the beginning I told people, when I talk to [the Twins], I didn't have any team in mind. They narrowed it down and they got to the Mets and I said that would be cool. It would be a new experience for me and I will be up to that challenge. At the end, I was hoping Minnesota would get the best deal available."

Santana, 28, revealed that the sides tried unsuccessfully to work on an extension shortly following the 2006 season -- after he won his second Cy Young Award. Then, shortly before the start of the 2007 season, the Twins offered a two-year extension with an option for 2011, though he wouldn't say for how much.

"At the time we didn't know what took so long for them to come to us," Santana said. "They said they don't break [their] rules and don't negotiate during the season. At the time, it was fine. They were doing their thing and we're not going to tell them how to do their jobs. That's not my area."

The Twins offered Santana a four-year extension after the 2007 season. Including 2008, it would have locked him up for five years and $93 million.

Santana had hoped for another year -- he is getting six years guaranteed from the Mets with an option for a seventh -- but said he was told that's all they had.

"I was like, 'OK, nothing against anybody,' " Santana said. "It's the way they do business and I respect that. I guess the best thing for them was to make this deal."

The Twins tried to determine what Santana would accept to remain here right up until the deal with the Mets was struck last week.

"I don't want to rehash the negotiations," Twins GM Bill Smith said. "I do think we had a chance to sign him. I was hopeful. He got a historic contract from the Mets and all we could do at that point was wish him continued success and good luck."

Santana confirmed that he wanted to know last week if he was changing clubs, but he said he never threatened to play out the 2008 season and leave as a free agent if not traded before spring training. Indications are that the Twins were only reminded of that option.

Both sides praised the other for remaining professional during the whole process.

"I had about 40 conversations with Peter Greenberg [Santana's agent] the past several weeks and never once had a conversation where we raised our voices," Smith said.

Santana said it was tough to talk to Smith after the deal was made because he has known him for so long. Santana has talked to former teammate Torii Hunter; others, such as Joe Mauer, have sent him text messages. He hopes to call Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson to thank them for everything they did for him.

Santana said he leaves the Twins after eight seasons with no hard feelings. He played in four postseasons and was embraced by fans.

"I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart all the Twins fans who have supported me throughout my eight years in the Twin Cities," he said.

When asked what he'll miss the most about the Twins, Santana said: "Everything, man. I'll be honest. I enjoyed playing for them for this part of my career. I had great moments and being in that clubhouse with the coaches and the teammates and everyone. It's a beautiful city. Everywhere I went, people treated me nice and it was great."