01:00 AM EST on Thursday, November 24, 2005

After two days of meetings with the pitcher and his wife, the New York Mets offered free-agent closer Billy Wagner a three-year contract worth a little more than $30 million, a deal containing an option for 2009 that could increase the package to $40 million.

"They're not just trying to put a competitive team on the field, they're going to put a winning team on this field," Wagner said Tuesday.

General manager Omar Minaya believes Wagner is the pitcher to help them do it.

"It's a judgment thing," Minaya said at Shea Stadium. "To be a closer I think itself is something that's difficult. But I do believe he has it to be able to do it in this town.

"The ability to bounce back, that's what makes closers special."

Bean Stringfellow, Wagner's agent, said he was pleased with the trip to New York. Stringfellow said the Mets' offer had provisions in which the option year could become guaranteed.

"The visit went very well and went a long way to answering whether the Wagners could be comfortable living in the New York area," he wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Wagner was 4-3 with 38 saves and a 1.51 E.R.A. last season for Philadelphia, which wants to re-sign him. After spending most of his career with Houston, his two seasons with the Phillies showed the left-hander he could handle pitching in a tough city.

"I think if I had an opportunity to play in New York four or five years ago, I probably wouldn't have been as receptive to it," Wagner said. "After the trade of going to Philadelphia and playing there, I believe that's made it that much easier to handle the media, the pressures."

Wagner had lunch and dinner with a number of Mets officials Monday, including Fred and Jeff Wilpon and manager Willie Randolph. Minaya knows it will be difficult getting him to leave Philadelphia.

"It's tough for a player to leave a team that he's already accustomed to, so we have to work even harder," Minaya said. "You have to give a reason why."

Wagner mentioned some of the reasons, including his family being comfortable and him being able to reach 400 saves -- he has 284. He also wants to play on a winning team, and the Mets are showing him they expect to be one.

ROUNDUP

BLACK TO STAY WITH ANGELS: Bud Black decided yesterday to remain with the Los Angeles Angels as pitching coach rather than pursue the Dodgers' managerial job. Black declined an invitation to be interviewed Tuesday after the Dodgers received permission from the Angels to speak with him. But he called Dodgers GM Ned Colletti that night to say he'd like some additional time to consider the matter. Black, who signed a two-year contract with the Angels earlier this month, has turned down past requests to be interviewed because he didn't want to have to move his family from Rancho Santa Fe, located in the San Diego area. He has a daughter in middle school and another in high school. While he commutes to Anaheim every day, a trip to Los Angeles would be much more demanding because of heavy traffic even though the two ballparks are only about 35 miles apart.

MILEY HIRED: Former Reds manager Dave Miley was hired as skipper of the New York Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in Columbus. The Clippers announced the hiring Tuesday, and named Miley's coaching staff. Neil Allen, who spent last season as the Yankees' bullpen coach, will be the Clippers' pitching coach. Kevin Long will return as the team's hitting coach, and Frank Howard aslo will be back as the Clippers' outfielders/first base coach. Miley replaces Bucky Dent, who was hired as bench coach of the Reds on Nov. 4. Miley was fired as Cincinnati's manager in June, when the team was 27-43 and on its way to its fifth straight losing season. He became the Reds' manager on July 28, 2003, when he replaced Bob Boone. Cincinnati was 125-164 during his three seasons. Miley, who formally accepted the offer from the Yankees on Tuesday, interviewed for the job in Tampa, Fla., last week.

VAZQUEZ WANTS TO MOVE: Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Javier Vazquez filed a trade demand to make it easier for his family to visit him during the baseball season. Vazquez said yesterday during a visit to his hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico, that it was easier for his family to visit him when he played for the Montreal Expos and New York Yankees. If the Diamondbacks don't deal Vazquez by March 15 and he doesn't withdraw the trade demand, he would become a free agent. However, he would forfeit the final $24 million he is owed from the $45-million, four-year contract he agreed to with the Yankees in January 2004. That deal gives him salaries of $11.5 million in 2006 and $12.5 million in 2007.

MOELLER AGREES TO DEAL: Catcher Chad Moeller agreed yesterday to a $700,000, one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. The 30-year-old Moeller, acquired by the Brewers in a nine-player trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2003, was eligible for salary arbitration and can become a free agent after next season. Moeller batted .206 with seven home runs and 23 RBI in 66 games last season. He began his major-league career with the Minnesota Twins in 2000 and was traded the next year to Arizona. Moeller has a .231 career average. He can earn $100,000 in performance bonuses: $25,000 each for 40, 60, 80 and 100 games. He made $700,000 last season.