UPDATE: PLAYERS VOTE TO BOYCOTT JAPAN TRIP

In a player only meeting today the Red Sox voted to boycott the Japan Trip and refuse to get on the plane unless MLB compensated coaches equally with players. ($40,000 appearance fee) The players voted unanimously and also may skip today's game against Toronto. Many Red Sox players and coaches believed the MLB had originally agreed to compensate all coaches and were reneging on the deal. Tito said the following: “As of 9:04 it does,” said a visibly upset Francona when asked if the goings-on had cast a pall on the day. “We’re spending energy on something we don’t want to spend it on. I don’t understand it. I was embarrassed this morning. I had to tell them, ‘Hey, that money you may have already spent, go get it back.’ I was the one who told them.”

MLB will have no choice but to pay the coaches, the Japan Series is to get Major League Baseball exposure in other parts of the world and extend the market for MLB products. This will blow up in Bud Selig's face and MLB come off as cheap. But as Ken pointed out in his post on the Cape Cod League; they can be very cheap.

UPDATE 12:03 PM Eastern: Today's game is on ESPN and Sox players are not leaving the dugout.

Update II: Game On due to some settlement...developing