Mets Work Out Deal With Santana

Four players have more lucrative contracts than the $137.5 million deal Johan Santana and the Mets reportedly agreed to Friday: Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez ($275 million), Yankees SS Derek Jeter ($189 million), Red Sox OF Manny Ramirez ($160 million) and Rockies 1B Todd Helton ($141.5 million). By Mike Fitzpatrick

Johan Santana and the New York Mets agreed Friday to a $137.5 million, six-year contract, a record for a pitcher and one of the last steps needed to complete the team’s blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Twins.

After the sides were granted an extra two hours to work on a deal, the Mets announced about 30 minutes before the new 7 p.m. deadline that negotiations had concluded. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is scheduled to take a physical today.

Terms of the agreement were disclosed by a baseball official with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity . The deal includes an $18.75 million option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout that could make the contract worth $150.75 million over seven seasons.

Santana, who will turn 29 next month, is 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA in eight major league seasons, winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2004 and 2006 with the Twins. He is only 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA in the playoffs.

The lefthander slipped a bit last year, finishing with a 15-13 record . He dropped seven of his final 11 decisions as his ERA rose from 2.60 to 3.33 ERA, his highest since 2001.

"He’s good, but he’s not unbeatable. He got hit around last year," Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson said. "We’ve just got to be concerned about ourselves. We can’t be consumed by what anyone else does."

Santana’s contract topped the previous mark for pitchers, set when Barry Zito received a $126 million, seven-year deal from the San Francisco Giants last offseason.

Santana’s average annual salary of $22.92 million is second only to Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s $27.5 million. Among pitchers with multiyear contracts, it topped the $18.3 million of the Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano.

The Twins agreed Tuesday to swap Santana for outfielder Carlos Gomez and righthanders Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra.

cashing in