>NEW YORK (AP) – The Mets and Johan Santana’s agent spent another day working on a contract extension, a deal that many in baseball expected to be completed before Friday’s deadline.

Team officials met Thursday with Peter Greenberg in Manhattan for the second consecutive day. The sides must reach an agreement by 5 p.m. EST Friday for New York to complete its blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Twins.

Santana was likely seeking a contract worth more than $120 million over six or seven years, while New York prefers not to go any longer than five years. An agreement was expected, but in the end the Mets might have to bend a bit.

They created quite a stir Tuesday by reaching a tentative trade agreement with Minnesota and surely don’t want to let the two-time Cy Young Award winner slip away. That would infuriate many fans who got excited about the team this week for the first time since New York’s monumental collapse last September.

Both sides stayed mum about details of the negotiation. Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg, did not return an e-mail seeking comment. Asked if he had an update, Mets general manager Omar Minaya e-mailed a one-word reply: “No.”