UPDATE Griffey has given the OK; he’s going to Chicago. This is so exciting! I hope the White Sox go far.

According to the story on Reds.com:

The Reds will receive right-handed pitcher Nick Masset and second baseman Danny Richar, a source said.

Griffey, 38, is a likely free agent after the season. In the final year of a nine-year deal, the Reds held a $16.5 million club option for 2009, with a $4 million buyout.

The trade that’s been in the works since 2005 but seemed like it would never come may finally be here: FOX Sports (and even the MLB.com pages concur) reports that the Reds and White Sox have come to an agreement to send Ken Griffey Jr. to the windy city, if the slugger agrees to go.

Ken Rosenthal says:

The White Sox, leading the American League Central by a game and a half, would use Griffey mostly in the outfield, the source said. However, they do not have an obvious spot for him unless they make another deal.

The Sox are set at the corners with Carlos Quentin in left and Jermaine Dye in right. They could play Nick Swisher at first to open center for Griffey, a move that would reduce the playing time of first baseman Paul Konerko and designated hitter Jim Thome. But Griffey has not played center regularly since 2006.

Griffey, earning $12.5 million this season in the final year of his contract, is owed more than $4 million in salary. The Reds could pay a portion of that sum to acquire better players in the deal. The White Sox also could be seeking to acquire one of the Reds’ available relievers, right-hander David Weathers or lefty Jeremy Affeldt.

No word yet on what the Reds would get in return.

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Boxscore

It’s getting harder and harder to watch the Reds. I don’t foresee this ending anytime soon, not until Dusty Baker is fired. I mean, there are only so many jokes and laughs you can have about Corey Patterson leading off.

Patterson’s average is .183, in case you were wondering. His Not Out Percentage is 21.6%. That’s right, he’s made an out 78.4% of the time. Sounds like a prototypical Dusty Baker leadoff man to me!

This was the game I switched to once the Cubs-Brewers game turned into a blowout. I don’t know what I was expecting, certainly not good baseball from the Reds.

Bronson Arroyo, who took the bold, courageous stand of desiring to play for a wannabe-last-place team, was terrible, allowing 6 runs in 6 1/3 innings. Way to show how much you deserve to stay, Bronson. Of course, he did drive in 1 of the 2 runs, so that’s something. At the least, it’s more than Patterson’s done since June 21.

The Reds have now lost 5 in a row and sit in last place, 13.5 games out.

Boxscore

The Cubs made quick work of that battle for first place with the Brewers. They won the second game easily and widened their lead to 3 games, which ensures they will have first all to their little beary lonesome no matter what happens in the final two games of the series.

Last night’s game was kind of a letdown. I’d hoped for another close one like the first one, and with Carlos Zambrano going against Ben Sheets it was certainly possible. But Sheets sucked and Zambrano didn’t. The Brewers offense consisted of an RBI from Mike Cameron. That’s not good enough most nights, let alone when your ace pitcher allows 6 in 5 1/3.

The Brewers have been outplayed these first two games of the series, and they were the team playing better baseball beforehand. It is making me rethink my assessment of the Brewers. We’ll see how they do in the final two games. Maybe without the big pitching guns, Milwaukee’s bats will wake up. I hope so; I’m getting bored.

Boxscore

The first game of the four-game battle for first between the Cubs and Brewers did not disappoint. Well, you could say that C.C. (yes, I’m still using periods) Sabathia didn’t pitch as well as expected after his last three complete games for Milwaukee, but that’s quibbling. He was still solid, allowing 3 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

No, the real disappointment was my out-of-the-blue 100 degree fever that had me asleep around the halfway point of the game. Stupid sick body wanting to heal. As if sleeping will help.

It looked like the game might go into extra frames when it was tied at 4 in the 9th, but Derrek Lee wanted to go home. He smacked a 2-run double off Salomon Torres, and the Brewers were unable to come back against Carlos Marmol.

Chicago now has a 2 game lead on Milwaukee, although I imagine the Brewers plan on doing something about that today.