Braves agree to $6.75 million deal with Wagner

The Atlanta Braves agreed to a one-year, 6.75 million-dollar deal with free agent closing pitcher Billy Wagner on Wednesday.

"The bullpen is one of the areas we needed to upgrade to get where we want to go," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "Billy was at the top of our list. The first day of free agency, we gave him a call."

The six-time All-Star gets 6.75 million dollars in 2010. The deal also includes a 6.5 million-dollar club option for 2011 with a 250,000-dollar buyout.

The option would become guaranteed if Wagner finishes 50 games next season.

The deal with Wagner, who replaces last season's co-closers, Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, was the Braves' second major move of the off-season.

Tim Hudson re-signed to give the Braves six established starting pitchers and likely set up a trade to bulk up the offense, possibly at next week's winter meetings.

"We knew going into this offseason that we wanted to fix two areas: the bullpen and the offense," Wren said.

Left-hander Wagner, 38, missed most of last season after elbow ligament replacement surgery in September of 2008.

He returned to the New York Mets on August 20, and was then traded to the Boston Red Sox.

In 13 2/3 innings with Boston, Wagner was 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA and 22 strikeouts.