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Santana officially a Met after passing physical

BY KEN DAVIDOFF | ken.davidoff@newsday.com

9:40 PM EST, February 2, 2008

The Mets owe Johan Santana $137.5 million. Jeff Wilpon owes Omar Minaya a pair of shoes -- from a high-end designer, presumably.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Santana will be introduced Wednesday at a news conference at Shea Stadium. He is officially a Met, having passed his physical exam Saturday to complete a blockbuster acquisition that seemed unfathomable -- to most -- for the bulk of this long Mets offseason.

Mets general manager Minaya, however, possessed such optimism about ultimately getting Santana that after returning home from the winter meetings in early December -- a juncture at which Boston's import of Santana appeared inevitable -- he told Wilpon, "Be ready. This is going to come back to us."

Mets COO Wilpon disagreed strongly enough to promise Minaya the pair of shoes if he came through with Santana. It seemed a safe bet for Wilpon; Peter Greenberg, Santana's agent, divulged Saturday that Twins GM Bill Smith told him at one point that the Mets resided in third place in the hunt.

"I just felt that if it doesn't go that way [a Santana trade to Boston or the Yankees], I felt it was going to come back to us, be in front of us," Minaya said Saturday in a telephone news conference. "We had to stay patient. They needed a centerfielder. We had [Carlos] Gomez. They needed pitching. We had some pitchers."

All winter, Santana was the Mets' first choice, and Santana, convinced that his time in Minnesota had concluded, wanted to go to the Mets, Greenberg said. He liked the idea of trying to win the Cy Young in both leagues, and the all-around athlete is determined to win a Silver Slugger Award.

When Tom Glavine left for the Braves in November, Minaya purposely didn't replace him until Smith decided what to do with Santana. Compared to that months-long wait, the 73 1/2-hour negotiating marathon for Santana's new contract was relatively easy.

Minaya and Greenberg both said Saturday that they worried that an agreement wouldn't be reached. Yet Wilpon, the money man, said, "We would not have traded for him if we weren't very confident that we were going to sign him."

The two sides agreed early on to tear up Santana's $13.25-million deal for 2008 and work on a fresh six-year contract. By the time the 5 o'clock deadline struck, they were debating about a final $5 million. Granted an extension by the Twins and Major League Baseball, they agreed to split the difference. Santana can vest the $18.75-million team option for 2014 through innings pitched or Cy Young Awards.

At the urging of Minaya and Mets vice president Tony Bernazard, Greenberg summoned Santana from his home in Fort Myers, Fla. Wilpon and his father, CEO Fred Wilpon, met with the pitcher during the negotiation's final hours.

Now, with the record-breaking dollars out of the way, Santana and his new employers can focus on all they want to accomplish together.

"I'm very excited for the opportunity to come and play for the New York Mets," Santana said in a statement. "New York has always been one of my favorite cities. I'm looking forward to helping the Mets bring a World Series trophy back to Queens."

Notes & quotes: The Mets avoided arbitration with pitcher Jorge Sosa, signing him to a $2-million deal for 2008.

Movin' on up

Here's a breakdown of Johan Santana's annual salary, according to terms obtained by The AP.