According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
The White Sox and Reds completed a deal before the non-waiver deadline that would have sent outfielder Chris Young, first baseman Casey Rogowski and prospects to Cincinnati for Griffey. The trade included the Reds picking up at least $15 million of Griffey's remaining $41.5 million through 2008. But after the deal was completed and approved by White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Reds president John Allen, Reds owner Carl Lindner nixed the deal the following day.
Six high-ranking White Sox and Reds officials, including those close to Reinsdorf and Allen, confirmed the deal. The teams plan to revisit the deal if Lindner changes his mind.
"Junior is open to the possibility," said Brian Goldberg, Griffey's agent. "Originally, it caught us by surprise because we didn't know anything about it until we read it. We originally gave the Reds three teams that we would accept a deal (believed to be the Yankees, Braves and Astros), but that's not to say we wouldn't listen to the White Sox.
"Junior's first reaction is that the town is fine, the organization is fine, the people that run the organization are fine, but the only issue is that he'll be spending six weeks in Tucson (the White Sox's spring-training site in Arizona). But that doesn't preclude us from listening. And he will listen."
The Yankees are probably going to push hard for him. I say this solely after watching their center fielders as compared to Aaron Rowand.
One other thing that has to be looked at: Should a deal go through, they need to prep Junior for the fact that he will not be the every day center fielder. At this point, Rowand is a superior defender to Griffey. That could be a deal breaker.
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