According to a source close to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, the Minnesota Twins and Tsuyoshi Nishioka are “very close” on a deal.  Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated adds the sides are working on a three-year deal plus an option year and the deal is in the neighborhood of $10 million.

Twins GM Bill Smith confirmed that Nishioka is in town and is taking a physical “today and tomorrow.” The negotiations between the sides are on-going, but not complete, according to John Shipley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

On Tuesday, La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, speculated that Nishioka was close to coming to the Minnesota area for his physical – a clear sign that the sides are close to a deal.

The Twins previously won the exclusive right in November to negotiate with Nishioka via a $5.3 million bid to his Chiba Lotte Japanese club. The sides have up until December 26 to have a deal in place otherwise Nishioka will return to his Japanese club for the 2011 season.

A physical by Nishioka is a good sign that the sides are getting close to an agreement. Neal adds that there have been no indications that a multi year deal will not get worked out.

Nishioka who can play both shortstop and second base, led Japan’s Pacific League in hitting this year with a .346 average.