Mets pick up 2013 option for Collins

The Mets Tuesday night announced they had picked up the 2013 contract option of manager Terry Collins.

General manager Sandy Alderson made the announcement about an hour before the fourth-place Mets hosted the Reds at Citi Field. Collins went into the game with a 76-84 record in his first season as Mets manager.

Collins, 62, was hired last winter to take over for the fired Jerry Manuel after spending 2010 as the Mets' minor-league field coordinator. In that role, Collins became familiar with the organization's prospects. That helped him this season as the Mets turned to young players.

"We're very pleased with the job that Terry has done -- a tremendous work ethic, extremely knowledgeable, a great baseball man, but also knowledgeable about players in our system,'' Alderson said. "He communicates well. He has just done a terrific job in leading our team under sometimes difficult circumstances.''

"One of the things I think I've mentioned from time to time is we've made every effort to change the perception of New York Mets baseball. Terry has gone a long way toward doing that. I think he's been a great communicator with his players. I think he's been a great communicator to the fans, sort of an authentic personality that hasn't changed over the course of the last 10 months or so.''

Collins' personality was one of the big question marks going into the season. He wore out his welcome in his two previous big-league stops -- 1994-96 with the Astros and 1997-99 with the Angels -- with what was perceived as an autocratic style.

"I think that's been not a criticism necessarily but a question about Terry from the outset," Alderson said. "But I have not seen any evidence of that this season. Terry's an emotional guy, high-energy, intense, and so I think it's a credit to him that we never even approached such an incident. He wants to win. I think that's evident in the way he carries himself. At the same time, so does the rest of the organization and I think in those situations that he might have been tempted. I think that going back on his experience may have had second thoughts. And occasionally he'd lose it. But I think in a way that was constructive and not destructive."

Collins promised to mellow and for the most part has done so, even as the Mets have suffered through a lackluster second half since dealing Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran. Injuries to Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy and Jose Reyes took some of the sheen off an overachieving first half, but Alderson isn't holding that against Collins.

"I'm honored," Collins said in a statement. "But it's about the guys in the dugout and the good job they do."