Griffey going to White Sox after commish approves deal from Reds

The trade ended a bittersweet stay with his hometown team -- a lot of injuries, a few benchmark homers, no playoff appearances.

Notably, his last hit with the Reds was a homer.

Griffey was on pace to break Hank Aaron's home run record when he came to Cincinnati in a trade with Seattle before the 2000 season. A series of severe injuries dropped him well off the pace. He finally hit No. 600 this season - only the sixth player to reach the mark -- but struggled mightily at the plate.

That short, sweet swing has slowed down this year.

Griffey hit a three-run homer in a 9-5 win at Houston on Wednesday that left him with 15 home runs, 53 RBI and a .245 batting average despite playing in one of baseball's most homer-friendly ballparks. His 608th homer left him one behind Sammy Sosa for fifth place on the career list.

Now, Griffey can catch up with Sosa on the south side of Chicago.

His speed and range have diminished since he was the game's best center fielder in the 1990s. Guillen said Griffey will play center and will be a designated hitter at times. Griffey batted third with the Reds, but will drop to sixth or seventh with Chicago.

"We're going to start there," Guillen said. "I don't know if we were going to move him up or down, but we'll start there."

The Reds agreed to pay some of the money left on Griffey's contract to get the deal done. He makes $12.5 million this season, and has an option for 2009 at a $16.5 million salary. If the White Sox don't want to pick up next year's option, Griffey will be owed a $4 million buyout.

The Reds were interested in dealing Griffey because of the size of his contract and their plummet after the All-Star break, which dropped them back to near the bottom of the NL Central, 13½ games out of first place. The Reds haven't had a winning season since 2000.

The trade that united Griffey with the Reds in 2000 was hailed as a major breakthrough for the franchise, but turned out to be far less than expected. After the 2002 season, former general manager Jim Bowden tried to trade Griffey to San Diego for Phil Nevin, who used his no-trade clause to block the deal.

Bowden was trying to work out a deal with the Yankees in 2003 before Griffey got hurt. The White Sox also showed previous interest in Griffey, but Reds ownership was reluctant to trade its most prominent player as he closed in on 600 homers.

Masset, a righty, was 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA in 32 games for Chicago. Richar hit .262 with nine homers for Triple-A Charlotte.