The Reds have traded Ken Griffey Jr. to the White Sox, pending his approval. Ken Griffey Jr. will decide Thursday morning whether he will approve the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. It is not known what the Reds would receive in return.
Ken Griffey Jr., as a player with at least 10 years of major-league service, five with the same club, has the right to block any deal. The White Sox attempted to acquire him from the Reds at the trade deadline in 2005, but the trade reportedly was nixed by Reds ownership for financial reasons.
On April 4, 2008, Ken Griffey Jr. passed Reggie Jackson for 16th on the all-time list after driving in his 1,702nd RBI. Two days later, in an 8–2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Griffey hit his 594th career home run and his first of the 2008 season. The two-run homer pushed him closer to becoming the sixth player in history to reach 600-home runs. On April 9, in the 12–4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, Griffey batted 2 for 4 with 3 runs and an RBI. On April 15, in the 9–5 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Griffey hit his 595th career home run, batting 1 for 4 on the game with the solo hit being the two-run homer. Two days later on April 17, Griffey hit his 596th career home run while batting 2 for 5 with 3 RBIs in a 9–2 victory by the Cincinnati Reds over the Chicago Cubs.
In the April 20 matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers, Griffey batted 1 for 5 with the walk-off RBI in the bottom of the 10th inning for the 4–3 victory. Griffey's walk-off hit came after Edwin Encarnacion's and Joey Votto's back-to-back home runs. On May 31st, 2008 Griffey hit the 599th home run of his career against the Atlanta Braves, needing only 1 more home run to become only the sixth member of the legendary 600 home run club. He reached the plateau on June 9, 2008, hitting his 600th home run on a 3-1 pitch from Mark Hendrickson of the Florida Marlins in the first inning. Fans of both teams gave him a standing ovation.
On June 30, Griffey hit his fifth career walk-off home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The two-run pinch-hit shot, his 603rd career home run, came in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Reds to the 4-3 victory. On July 4th, Griffey hit career home run #604 as the Reds beat the Washington Nationals, 3-0.
Despite being ranked second in the National League All-Star voting for outfielders for most of the first half of the season, Griffey finished fourth with 2,907,746 ballots and was not selected to his 14th All-Star Game as a reserve, being 87,000 votes away from Kosuke Fukudome in third place. At the All-Star Break, Griffey was batting .239 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs. "I always have a backup plan...If you can't hit a tough lefty, bunt. If you can't hit a tough righty, bunt. If you can't go to the All-Star Game, go to the Bahamas," Griffey said.
Following the All-Star Game, Griffey hit his 606th and 607th home runs of his career and 13th and 14th home runs of the season, respectively.On the day of the 2008 MLB Trade Deadline, July 31, 2008, the Cincinnati Reds agreed to trade Griffey to the Chicago White Sox -- the deal is reportedly dependent upon commissioner approval .
