According to USA Today, the Mets have acquired ace Johan Santana for prospects Kevin Mulvey, Deolis Guerra, Phil Humber and Carlos Gomez. Bob Nightengale of USA Today said the deal may take up to 3 deals to finalize.

“The deal is pending the Mets and Santana reaching agreement on a six- or seven-year contract extension and that Santana passes a physical; they have been granted a 48 to-72-hour window to do so. Santana has a no-trade clause that he will waive if agreement is reached on a contract extension.”

For Mets fans, what more can be said. This trade would give the starting rotation the best pitcher in the game, and let the organization keep Ryan Church, Aaron Heilman, Fernando Martinez and Mike Pelfrey. The Twins are getting back 4 prospects who’d be able to help out the big league team within a couple of years, but this trade definitely favors the Mets for the 2008 season. After several weeks of Johan Santana rumors, its surprising, to say the least, to see Santana pitch for a different organization at the start of the new season. The Twins told all 3 teams contending for Johan Santana to put their best offers on the table today, and apparently the Mets had the strongest.

The trade had been rumored to be close, after Carlos Gomez was pulled out from the Winter League Baseball roster.

UPDATE: The Associated Press claims that, “Sources say the deal is pending the Mets and Santana reaching agreement on a contract extension and a physical.”