Sox Threaten Boycott Of Japan Trip If Coaches Do Not Get Paid
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Lowell Says Red Sox Players Could Boycott
Trip To Japan If Coaches Do Not Get Paid |
Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell said that the team this morning voted unanimously during a players-only meeting "not to make the scheduled trip to Japan or play its final spring training game ... this afternoon unless the coaches, training staff and equipment staff were going to be compensated for making the trip," according to Nick Cafardo of the BOSTON GLOBE. Lowell: "When we voted to go to Japan, that was not a unanimous vote, but we did what our team wanted us to do for [MLB]. They promised us the moon and the stars and then when we committed, they started pulling back." The Red Sox are scheduled to leave for Tokyo today as part of the season-opening series against the A's. The trip, which includes two regular-season games, exhibition games against Japanese teams and a coaching clinic, has the players and the two managers receiving a $40,000 stipend. Red Sox manager Terry Francona had told the assistant coaches they also would get the stipend, but he was informed yesterday by the A's coaching staff "that they were not being paid" (BOSTON.com, 3/19). The Boston Globe's Cafardo reported A's GM Billy Beane "didn’t think that his players were doing anything on behalf of the coaches, but that may have changed" (NESN, 3/19). But Red Sox batting coach Dave Magadan told ESPN's Claire Smith that the A's "are considering similar measures, that would be not to get on the plane to go to Japan.” ESPN's Steve Phillips said, "I can't imagine this being a deal breaker. ... It's probably 10% they don't go and 90% they do" (ESPN, 3/19).
HAS PRECEDENT BEEN SET? Francona said that the coaching staffs "of previous MLB trips to Japan all were paid the same stipend as the players" (BOSTONHERALD.com, 3/19). But Phillips, who was the Mets' GM in '00 when the team played the Cubs in Japan, said, "I don't recall coaches getting paid" (ESPN, 3/19). In Providence, McDonald & McAdam report the Red Sox are increasing the daily per diem for the coaches from $70 to $200, but President & CEO Larry Lucchino said that the staff "will not receive any additional compensation." He added that the issue "should be taken up with MLB and MLBPA" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 3/19). However, the Boston Globe's Cafardo said, "It’s kind of embarrassing for the organization. ... I have never seen anything like it where you have a $6(B) industry and they’re quibbling over $40,000 for a few coaches" (NESN, 3/19).
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Varitek Feels MLB Has Reneged On Several
Agreed Upon Components Of Japan Trip |
NOT JUST COMPENSATION: ESPN’s Jon Sciambi said Red Sox C Jason Varitek told him that "besides the staff compensation, the other things that were agreed upon were that the Red Sox, over the course of this 19-day trip -- not just to Japan, but also to Los Angeles, then on to Oakland, then Toronto during the regular season -- that families would be welcome the entire time. Jason told me that promise was reneged upon, as well as a larger plane for the entire trip." aritek: "There were a lot of things that have gone on that have fallen by the wayside a little bit" (ESPN, 3/19). Red Sox P Curt Schilling: "Some of the things [MLB] promised they've already taken away. From the players point of view, we all felt the same way. They can't do this" (BOSTON.com, 3/19).
REAX: Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills: "Everyone was under the impression we would be taken care of and kind of lumped in with the players. No one had heard or thought any different. ... I'm hoping common sense prevails" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 3/19). Red Sox 1B and player rep Kevin Youkilis: "It was something I thought would never even be a problem. To have this as a problem is embarrassing. ... For [MLB] not to step up ... this is unbelievable." Youkilis added that the coaches "will be taken care of internally by the players ... no matter if the issue is resolved before the team leaves" (PROJO.com, 3/19). Red Sox P Curt Schilling: "It's wrong, it's wrong. 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" (BOSTONHERALD.com, 3/19). More Schilling: "Coaches and training staff never have leverage. In all the years I’ve been in baseball, they’re the guys usually most taken advantage of in situations like this" (NESN, 3/19). A's GM Billy Beane, who found out about the situation yesterday, said, "I think everyone on our staff, from what I was told, was disappointed" (BOSTON.com, 3/19).
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