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NEW YORK -- Terry Collins is set to stay with the New York Mets as they attempt to build a winner. Three people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday that Collins is close to an agreement to remain manager. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been finalized and no announcement had been made. Collins current contract expires after this season, his third in charge of the Mets. The team is expected to announce an extension for Collins at a news conference Monday. He is nearing a two-year contract, one of the people said, perhaps with a team option for 2016. "It would be a blast," Collins said. "But again, we will wait til the end of the year to smile about it." The move comes as no surprise. Though general manager Sandy Alderson and the Mets have publicly maintained they would wait until the conclusion of the season to determine Collins fate, it became increasingly clear late in the year that he likely would return. Fielding an inexperienced lineup depleted by injuries and trades, the 64-year-old Collins has kept the Mets competitive down the stretch without most of his top players. "If it happens, its well-deserved," team captain David Wright said after a 4-2 loss in 10 innings to Milwaukee. "If you look at the players hes had to manage and the trades and injuries hes had to endure, hes done a nice job. Obviously we arent where we want to be as a team, but thats not an indication of his job. We have a young team and Terry provides the fire. ... It is a really good fit." Wright recently missed seven weeks with a strained hamstring and All-Star ace Matt Harvey was shut down Aug. 26 with a partially torn ligament in his pitching elbow that put his status for next season in jeopardy. First baseman Ike Davis (oblique) and closer Bobby Parnell (neck surgery) also are sidelined. Right fielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck, two of New Yorks best run producers, were traded to Pittsburgh for a pair of prospects on Aug. 27. "We said in spring training, from the first day: Look, were not real deep, so one thing we could not have were injuries," Collins said Friday. "We had to play through it. We did. Weve hung in there. But the frustration is we couldnt keep our good players out there." Second baseman Daniel Murphy is the only opening day regular to make it through the entire season. Still, the Mets havent quit on the field. They went 5-1 on their final trip, taking two of three at playoff-bound Cincinnati to knock the wild-card Reds out of contention for the NL Central title. "Theyve hung in there through all the adversity," Collins said. "They competed every game and hung in there. Its been fun to watch." Collins is 224-261 as manager of the Mets with one game remaining this season. A new deal would give him an opportunity to see through the rebuilding project he jumped into a few years ago. Despite struggling to their fifth consecutive losing season since moving into Citi Field, the Mets have started to generate some legitimate hope for the future. Harvey and Zack Wheeler have impressed on the mound, the first to arrive from a crop of touted young pitchers New York is banking on down the road. Dillon Gee and Jonathon Niese appear dependable. With more than $40 million in player salaries coming off the books after this season, the Mets expect to be active in free agency. They have question marks all over the diamond, but youngsters such as catcher Travis dArnaud and centre fielder Juan Lagares show promise. The club has long targeted 2014 for a return to playoff contention -- though Harveys injury is potentially a major setback. The right-hander hopes to avoid elbow ligament-replacement surgery with a throwing and strengthening program. "Weve got something to build on," Alderson said Friday night during an in-game interview on SNY. "Ive always felt from when I arrived here through about this point with some expiration of contracts, that we needed to acquire and develop talent, we had to unfortunately manage our payroll and, at the same time, we had to win some games. Probably in that order of priority. I think going into next season that order changes." New York finished fourth in the NL East in each of Collins first two seasons and is third this year at 73-88. The fiery Collins also managed the Houston Astros from 1994-96 and the Anaheim Angels from 1997-99, compiling a winning record and a second-place finish in each of those seasons but the last one. He joined the Mets as a minor league field co-ordinator in 2010 and was hired as manager in November of that year, about a month after Alderson took over as GM. Collins originally was given a two-year contract with a team option for 2013, which the Mets exercised in September 2011. FoxSports.com and ESPNNewYork.com were among the media outlets who first reported Saturday that the sides were close to a new deal. Marwin Hitz Jersey . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted Monday morning that Callahan - who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is now open to a six-year contract at less than $7 million per season. Omer Toprak Jersey . The start of the seasons fifth and final major was delayed two hours due to heavy rain in the area. The tournament eventually began, but with water on the greens and the rain persisting, players were called back to the clubhouse less than an hour after the first group teed off. http://www.dortmundfcfanshop.com/c-35-dan-axel-zagadou-fc-borussia-dortmund-jersey.aspx . On Sunday, head coach Patrick Roy said the teams leading scorer will skate at Mondays morning practice and the club will make a decision on his status for Game 6 at that point. Achraf Hakimi Jersey . Algeria led 3-0 at halftime, but withstood a stronger South Korean second half performance to claim its first World Cup win since 1982 and move into second place in Group H with one match left to play. Defeat for South Korea means it must now beat already-qualified Belgium to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout stages. Nuri Sahin Jersey . Dallas (2-0-1) sits atop the Western Conference with an MLS-best seven points. Castillo opened the scoring in the 71st minute off a Mauro Diaz set piece, and Watson outran defender Tony Lochhead on a long ball and then juked goalkeeper Ian Kennedy for the eventual game-winner in the 78th minute.PITTSBURGH -- Bernhard Langer made a short birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff with Jeff Sluman to win the Senior Players Championship on Sunday. Langer appeared to be in trouble when his second shot on the par-5 18th ended up in the rough short of the green. He hit a brilliant pitch to 5 feet and made the putt after Slumans birdie attempt rolled just wide. The victory was the 56-year-old Langers third of the year and his third major title on the Champions Tour. The two-time Masters champion shot an even-par 70 to finish at 15-under 265 at Fox Chapel. Sluman had a bogey-free 65 to match Langer, but narrowly missed a birdie putt on the first playoff hole that would have won it. Russ Cochran, who trailed by seven shots early in the final round, had a 67 to finish third at 14 under. Defending champion Kenny Perry tied Langer for the lead heading into the back nine, but faded badly over the closing holes. Perrys 69 left him two shots out of the playoff. Langer nearly missed out on the playoff himself. He fought a balky putter much of the day only to hole a 35-foot birdie putt on the 17th that lifted him into a tie with Sluman. The normally reserved German pumped his fist in disbelief after the ball dropped into the cup. He parred 18 to match Sluman at 15 under and escaped one more time when Slumans birdie attempt on the first playoff hole burned the right edge. Sluman, the 1988 PGA champion, covered his hands in disbelief after the putt stayed out. Langer didnt let the reprieve go to waste, birdieing the 18th on his third try to earn his first major title on the 50-and-over circuit since the 2010 Senior British Open.dddddddddddd It didnt come easy for a player who started the day with a comfortable three-shot advantage over Perry. The steady play that kept Langer atop the leaderboard for the better part of 54 holes abandoned him early in the round, opening the door for the rest of the field. Langer missed a short par putt at the par-4 fourth, and he turned the 295-yard par-4 seventh into an adventure when his pitch sailed over the green and his 5-foot comebacker for par popped off the back edge of the cup. Perry, who promised to go into "attack mode" to chase down his good friend, had little trouble tracking Langer down. He pulled even with a birdie at the seventh and did it again at the ninth, when he bounced back from a bogey at the eighth by holing out from a greenside bunker for birdie. A back-nine duel, however, never materialized. Both players started spraying shots -- including an ugly double bogey for Langer at the par-4 12th -- while Sluman quietly went about his business in the group ahead. Sluman slowly reeled in the front-runners, taking the lead with a birdie on the par-4 14th and adding another at the par-4 16th while Perry and Langer faltered behind him. The streaky Perry, trying to join Arnold Palmer as the only player to win consecutive Senior Players titles, cooled as the pressure mounted. He shot 3-over 38 on the back, failing to make a single birdie down the stretch as the crisp iron game that vaulted him into contention vanished. ' ' '