From the Houston Chronicle:
Purpura explored trades every single day. He got close on a couple of things, on both pitcher Jamie Moyer and outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. He was unable to pull off either deal, and now is glad he didn't.
So Astros GM Tim Purpura was "close" to acquiring Junior. It's tough to tell from newspaper articles at times, but this one seems to be saying that Purpura himself has said that he was close with Moyer and Junior, which would mean that the Reds were genuinely close to trading Griffey to a division rival. I wouldn't have thought that would be even remotely possible, but perhaps I was wrong.