Red Sox Seem More Like Yankees Everyday

Red Sox vote not to board plane for Japan, play final spring game

The Boston Red Sox refused to take the field for their final spring training game in Florida on Wednesday and threatened to boycott their flight to Japan for their season openers unless their coaches and other staff are paid for the trip.

A couple of thoughts about this:

• $40,000 per coach is pocket change considering all the other costs for this trip. This could scuttle the whole trip? There have been grumblings from the Red Sox about this whole trip for a while. Seems like this is one issue that they could put up a fight over, even if it makes them look like petty whiners.
• $40,000 per player to go to Japan to play games? For how many days? In addition to being paid their regular salaries? That players ARE receiving this money is absurd. To protest someone not getting it is beyond absurd.
• These are millionaires we're talking about. If it's such an issue, why don't they pass the hat around the locker room and ask the players to pitch in for the coaches?
  
• What about Oakland? Why haven't we heard from them if this is such an issue? Maybe it's because the Sox feel as though they, as defending champs and object of the Red Sox Nation's desire, can act like the Yankees, er spoiled brats, er "representatives of what is right" and hijack something that has been planned for months.
  
• With all the planning and coordination needed for this, why did it only come to light on the day the Red Sox were to fly to Japan?
• Great offseason for baseball eh?
  
• Sadly, the players have all the leverage in this and will likely get their way.
  

UPDATE: the "crisis" has been resolved and the Sox will fly to Japan as planned. And word is that coaches were initially supposed to be paid and then MLB reneged on that plan. Which makes what the players did a bit more understandable but really just throws MLB into the shameful pit as well.