Anderson shipped to Tribe for knuckler Wright

BOSTON -- First baseman Lars Anderson had basically been road-blocked from Fenway Park since the Red Sox acquired Adrian Gonzalez in a trade from the San Diego Padres.

After nearly being traded to the Oakland Athletics a year ago, Anderson was traded Tuesday at the non-waiver Deadline, going to the Indians in exchange for Minor League knuckleballer Steven Wright.

Wright, a second-round Draft pick of the Indians in 2003, will likely be assigned to Double-A Portland.

"We scouted him a lot this year," said general manager Ben Cherington. "This is his first full year with just the knuckleball. He's thrown it in the past, but he's using it more exclusively this year. He does a lot of things that we feel give a guy a chance to succeed with that pitch in the big leagues. He's athletic, repeats his delivery, he can throw a fastball and breaking ball for a strike and the action on his knuckleball we feel is Major League quality."

Don't be surprised if retired knuckleballer Tim Wakefield works with Wright at some point.

"We thought about it. I haven't had a chance to talk to Wake about it," said Cherington. "Certainly my hope would be that we could get the two of them together at some point."

In six Minor League seasons, Wright, a righty, is 38-33 with a 3.95 ERA.

"It was more just an alignment on value," said Indians general manager Chris Antonetti. "We certainly hold Steven in high regard, but in order to get a player of value, you have to give a player of value.

"To Steven's credit, he's done a great job in his transformation to a knuckleball pitcher and is really committed to learning the craft. He's made a lot of progress with his knuckleball over the last two years, and we expect him to continue to develop and continue to improve and ultimately get that opportunity at the Major League level to demonstrate how it plays up there."