So the list of Red Sox players making the trip to Japan might look like this:
- David Aardsma, Dusty Brown, Clay Buchholz, Sean Casey, Kevin Cash, Alex Cora, Bryan Corey, Coco Crisp, Manny Delcarmen, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, Bobby Kielty, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, Mike Lowell, Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brandon Moss, Hideki Okajima, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Kyle Snyder, Julian Tavarez, Mike Timlin, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Kevin Youkilis
Or, it might well look like this:
- ...
Spurred on by Mike Lowell, the Sox players met this morning and unanimously agreed to boycott today's exhibition game aganst Toronto in Ft. Myers and the entire Japan trip if the coaching and training staff are not paid their promised compensation for making the Japan trip.
"It's wrong, it's wrong," said Curt Schilling. "It was part of the basic agreement when we talked about it last year. The coaching staff was part of the conversation, we all heard it."It's not really surprising because the coaches and staff are people generally who have always been overlooked and undervalued."
The A's also voted, in a meeting just a short while ago, to join the boycott and skip the Japan trip.
Jason Varitek spoke from the dugout in Ft. Myers - where the entire Red Sox team is chilling on the bench, refusing to take the field - confirming Mike Lowell's report that the team will not play until the issue is resolved. Both Jason and Curt Schilling also made reference to multiple other things that were promised to the club in compensation for the Japan trip that have "fallen by the wayside" (in Jason's words). What kinds of things? Per Curt:
As Remy and Orsillo just pointed out - the teams who have made the trip to Japan before (Yankees, Rays, etc.) have always had their staff financially compensated.Different personal things that were supposed to happen from an accommodations standpoint. Little things that tend to make trips like this easier. It's been more than one thing.
Frankly, I think this move by MLB is horseshit. Plain and simple. It deserves no more eloquent description than that.
on March 19, 2008 11:30 AM
I say good for the team and them sticking together for the coaches. On ESPN they said that the total for all the coaches for both the Sox and A's would be a little over the minimum for a rookie. In a game where people are making into and beyond the 20 mil mark, that sort of money is nothing. Hell, to be frank the coaches should be getting it anyway; they are one of the key components on why teams even run and should be recognized for it.
But that is all beyond the point. If MLB agreed to do something and now refuses to, well, like you said that is all B.S. Again I say good for the team and taking a stand. I hope the A's do the same thing and let the MLB know that this sort of thing isn't going to fly with anyone.