By John Fay
and Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jose Guillen is gone.

Aaron Boone could be about to follow.

The Reds traded their best hitter, Guillen, to the Oakland A's, for three right-handed pitchers Wednesday afternoon.

They were entertaining offers for their second-best hitter, Boone, Wednesday night.

"Right now the hot topic is Aaron Boone," said Leland Maddox, acting co-general manager after the Guillen trade was announced. "Everybody wants Aaron Boone."

Among the clubs interested: Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston and the New York Yankees.

Maddox insisted the Reds didn't want to trade Boone.

"(Chief executive officer) Carl Lindner doesn't want to trade anybody," Maddox said. "He loves all our players. I don't think you can replace an Aaron Boone or a Sean Casey or an Austin Kearns or an Adam Dunn. But with this industry right now, you don't know what could happen."

The Guillen trade was bound to happen when it became clear in the last couple of days that the Reds weren't going to re-sign him.

Cincinnati got Aaron Harang, Joe Valentine and Jeff Bruksch from the A's for Guillen.

"The whole theme right now is pitching, pitching, pitching," Maddox said. "There were several clubs that were interested (in Guillen). This is the best package that we could put together for major league-ready ballplayers in the two top guys, Valentine and Harang."

Valentine and Harang were assigned to Triple-A Louisville. Bruksch was sent to Single-A Potomac.

Russell Branyan was inserted into the Reds' lineup after the Guillen trade was announced.

To replace Guillen, the Reds recalled Wily Mo Pena from Louisville, where he was on a rehabilitation assignment. Pena, 22, has been on fire at Louisville He went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI Tuesday and hit .459 with 13 RBI over his last 10 games for the Bats.

Guillen hit .337 with 23 home runs and 63 RBI for the Reds in 315 at-bats.

He was on a one-year deal and will become a free agent after the season.

"I've got to appreciate the opportunity the Reds gave me," Guillen said. "They gave me a chance for a new life."

Guillen didn't even make the team out of spring training. But he was called up the first week of the season after Ken Griffey Jr. got hurt, and he has been the Reds' best hitter ever since.

The Reds had talks about re-signing him. "He was willing to come back for a very reasonable offer," Maddox said.

"I would love to stay," Guillen said. "I've been so comfortable here. The new stadium is nice. It would be a good situation for me. But they have Griffey, Kearns and Dunn. I wasn't going to come back as a fourth outfielder."

Harang, a 25-year-old right-hander, started the year at Triple-A Sacramento and was 8-2 with a 2.71 ERA before being promoted to Oakland. He went 1-3 with a 5.34 ERA with the A's before being sent back to Sacramento, where he since has gone 1-0 with a 3.78 ERA in three starts.

"I've seen him throw," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "We've got a pretty good arm there."

Valentine, 23, was 1-3 with a 4.82 ERA at Triple-A. Bruksch, also 23, was 10-8 with a 5.13 ERA at Single-A Modesto.

As for Boone, the Seattle Times reported a deal was close enough to completion that the Mariners had talked to Adam Katz, Boone's agent.

"Don't believe everything you hear," Boone said.

The Mariners reportedly are offering top pitching prospects such as Clint Nageotte, Rett Johnson and left-hander Travis Blackley.