Griffey is dealt to White Sox

Ken Griffey Jr. is leaving home to get back in a pennant race.

The Chicago White Sox acquired Griffey from the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, hoping the 38-year-old outfielder can help them keep their slim lead in the AL Central.

The Reds sent Griffey and cash to Chicago for reliever Nick Masset and triple-A second baseman Danny Richar. The deal was announced a half-hour before the 1 p.m. PDT deadline to make trades without waivers.

Griffey agreed to the trade earlier in the day. But because of the cash transaction involved, the deal did not become official until the commissioner’s office approved it.

White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams coveted Griffey for several years. Once one of baseball’s premier players, Griffey has never reached the World Series and has not even been in the playoffs since 1997 with Seattle.

“One of the things that factored into this was a guy who has had a great career but has not won a championship and how motivated he’s going to be to get on that stage,” Williams said.

“That is a factor and will always be a factor for me.”

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The Florida Marlins bolstered their bullpen by acquiring left-hander Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners for minor league right-hander Gaby Hernandez.

Rhodes is 2-1 with a 2.86 earned-run average with 26 strikeouts in 22 innings. He has a lifetime record of 77-61 with a 4.28 ERA in 689 games.

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Baltimore’s Daniel Cabrera and New York’s Edwar Ramirez were suspended and fined undisclosed amounts by the league for intentionally throwing at batters during a series between the teams earlier this week.

Cabrera was suspended six games and fined for throwing a pitch at Alex Rodriguez’s head during the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night.

Ramirez was suspended for three games and fined for throwing his first pitch over Kevin Millar’s head during the top of the seventh inning Wednesday.

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Detroit reliever Todd Jones was put on the 15-day disabled list. Jones, who recently lost his closer’s job, has inflammation in his right shoulder.

Jones is 1-1 with an 11.23 ERA and three blown saves in seven tries in his last 13 outings.