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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Philadelphia Phillies took a first step toward retaining closer Billy Wagner, meeting with the All-Star left-hander in Virginia on Wednesday.

Wagner was 4-3 with a 1.51 ERA and 38 saves, and nearly helped the Phillies reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Philadelphia finished 88-74, just one game behind Houston for the NL wild-card spot.

Wagner earned $9 million in the final year of his contract, and re-signing him is the team's top priority in the offseason.

Team president David Montgomery and assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. met with Wagner and his agent, Bean Stringfellow. Ed Wade had been scheduled to attend the meeting, but he was fired on Monday after eight seasons as the general manager.

``We felt it was important to have a face-to-face meeting with them,'' Amaro said. ``We had an excellent dialogue regarding Billy's future with us as well as our desire to keep him in Philadelphia. We made a proposal, received feedback, understand we have ground to cover and plan to have further discussions.''

Wagner, 33, came to the Phillies after establishing himself as one of the dominant closers in the league with the Astros. He went 4-0 with 21 saves and a 2.42 ERA in his first season in Philadelphia in 2004. But he missed almost 60 games with two stints on the disabled list.
It'd be a good step in the right direction get Wagner resigned.