According to Common (click here for the hour's podcast):

"My source says 'I am not a media member and I don't run a website, but I have a family member with the Twins.' ... The deal will be signed by Sunday.  It will be an eight-year deal with an average salary of $22 million dollars per year.  It will end up being $165 - $175 million for eight years.  It will also include the ninth and tenth year as options with a salary of $23 to $25 million a year.  The numbers are set but the length was the holdup, and it has been solved."

If this information is accurate, and Common seems to believe quite confidently in his source (who apparently also helped Common break the Jim Thome and J.J. Hardy moves this off-season), then I'm ecstatic at this result.

We'll find over the weekend.  Stay tuned for the latest on the Joe Mauer contract situation.

[Hat tip to Robin G. who pointed this bit out in the comments of today's game thread.]