MLB

DEAL CAME THISCLOSE TO DYING

The most important signing in franchise history nearly turned into the Flub Heard ‘Round the World for the Mets.

Johan Santana passed his physical yesterday and officially became Met property – but GM Omar Minaya and COO Jeff Wilpon admitted there were some tense moments, during which the deal for the two-time Cy Young Award winner nearly disintegrated.

The sides were $5 million apart as Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline approached, and hope was dissipating that Santana and the Mets would agree to terms.

“I honestly thought the deal was dead,” Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg, said.

Granted a two-hour extension by the Twins and MLB, each side eventually conceded $2.5 million. In the end, Santana agreed to a six-year extension worth $137.5 million, the richest contract for a pitcher in major-league history.

The deal includes an option for 2014, which if not attained would trigger a $5.5 million buyout clause.

As for the other part of the blockbuster deal, Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra now belong to the Twins.

As part of his concession that allowed the deal to materialize, Santana will take less money than he originally wanted for a potential buyout in 2014 in return for more guaranteed dollars.

“I remember reminding all of us, ‘We’re going to have to be creative to get this deal done,’ ” Minaya said. “Really, Jeff and Peter really found a way and willed a way to get a deal done.”

Santana arrived at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan yesterday shortly after 8 a.m., passing a physical exam that lasted about five hours. The Mets will hold a formal news conference unveiling Santana on Wednesday.

“It’s a historic day, so we are very happy for this and it’s unbelievable we were able to get it done,” Minaya said.

Santana, who received a full no-trade clause, will earn $19 million this year and his salary would increase to $25.5 million in 2013, the final guaranteed year of the contract.

His vesting option for 2014 is based on incentives such as innings pitched and placement in the Cy Young voting and is worth $25 million.

“We clearly see signing [Santana] as a major event in our franchise’s history,” Wilpon said.

In a statement Santana said: “I’m looking forward to helping the Mets bring a World Series trophy back to Queens.”

Minaya considers Santana the missing piece in a rotation that will also include Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Orlando Hernandez.

“We’ve been lacking what we consider a true No. 1 starter,” Minaya said. “It doesn’t get much better than Johan Santana.”

Minaya indicated he would not have made the trade if he had to include Jose Reyes, Fernando Martinez or Mike Pelfrey. That didn’t deter Twin GM Bill Smith, who was rebuffed in his attempts to sign Santana to a four-year extension worth $80 million.

“You get to a point where you want to go into spring training knowing what you have,” Smith said. “I think everybody just reached a point where this was the best deal we were going to get.”

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The Mets avoided arbitration with Jorge Sosa, yesterday signing the right-hander to a one-year contract worth $2 million. Sosa went 9-8 with a 4.47 ERA for the Mets last season.

-Additional reporting byMark Hale, Dan Tomasino