Mets give GM Minaya a contract extension

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The New York Mets signed General Manager Omar Minaya to a three-year contract extension Thursday.

The deal runs through 2012 and contains club signing options for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The extension was a surprise after the Mets collapsed for the second straight season in their effort to qualify for the playoffs. The acquisition of ace left-hander Johan Santana for 2008 proved fruitless.

"Omar's our guy," Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon told reporters during a Thursday conference call.

"We felt he was the right person to run our baseball operations."

"In failing to reach our goal of a championship, we're already hard at work in evaluating every aspect of our club to improve it," Minaya said in a statement on the club's Web site.

The Mets' record is 357-291 (.551 winning percentage) since Minaya became the GM Sept. 30, 2004. The Mets went the National League Championship Series in 2006.