Twins agree to four-year, $40M deal with Santana

MINNEAPOLIS -- Less than two years ago, Johan Santana was in Minnesota's bullpen. Back home in Venezuela this winter, he had bodyguards.

Winning the AL Cy Young Award certainly heightened Santana's profile. It also raised his price.

As first reported by SportsLine.com's Scott Miller, Santana and the Minnesota Twins agreed Monday to a $40 million, four-year contract. The deal, contingent on Santana passing a physical, marked the end of a whirlwind offseason for the 25-year-old left-hander.

"A lot of things happened to me," Santana said from Fort Myers, Fla., where he is preparing for spring training to start this weekend. "The good thing about it is they were all positive. As long as it's positive, you are fine. I think I can deal with all of that with no problems."

Santana, who had been scheduled for a salary arbitration hearing Tuesday, led the league with a 2.61 ERA and 265 strikeouts in 2004. He become the first Venezuelan to win the Cy Young and the first unanimous winner in the AL since Pedro Martinez in 2000.

After making $1.6 million last year, Santana -- who would have been eligible for free agency after the 2006 season -- had asked for a raise to $6.8 million and had been offered $5 million by the team.

Johan Santana went 13-0 after the All-Star break last year. (Getty Images)

Both sides were more than happy to avoid arbitration.

"Definitely, it's something that we were looking for," Santana said. "It's good to know that I'll be in a Twins uniform for four more years."

Though small-market Minnesota always has a low payroll, its stance has long been to pay the players who produce. After lengthy negotiations between assistant general manager Wayne Krivsky and Peter Greenberg, Santana's agent, the Twins were able to lock their young lefty in for the long term.

"They worked hard on this thing," general manager Terry Ryan said. "This hasn't just been a week or two. I've got to compliment those two guys to stay with it, because it's certainly a tedious process."

Santana set a Twins record by winning 13 consecutive games and didn't lose in 15 starts after the All-Star break, going 13-0 with a 1.21 ERA to help Minnesota win its third straight AL Central Division title.

His stellar second half and the Cy Young Award thrust the easygoing Santana into the spotlight, both in the United States and in his native Venezuela. He's prepared, upon reporting to camp on Sunday, for that to happen again as he begins just his second season as a full-time starter.

"I guess it's going to be like that, but for me it's just going to be like another year," Santana said. "I'm not going to bring that up in my head. For me, I've just got to do my job and as long as you stay healthy it's fine."