Rob Bradford and Michael Silverman of the BOSTON HERALD report that MLB is trying to get away with not paying Red Sox coaches the same appearance fee the players are getting for the club’s upcoming nightmare trip to Japan.

(Welcome to my last-place 1991 fantasy baseball entry)

The players are incensed by the move, and reportedly voted this morning to “not to board the Red Sox’ flight to Japan if the matter remained unresolved this evening.“

This boycott may read to some as coaches not getting paid at all for the trip, but it appears they are getting their normal salaries. The BH piece isn’t entirely clear on that, but we assume that’s the case.

The players are each getting a $40K appearance fee for the Japan trip, and MLB apparently agreed that the coaches would be extended the same pay. The BH and Red Sox manager Terry Francona indicated that some of the coaches make as little as $30K for the entire season, and most were counting on the extra cash to boost their income for the year.

If MLB indeed promised $40K each to the coaches and then pulled back, we can understand the threats from the players. And it’s admirable of them. But that does seem like a pretty steep appearance fee for the likes of Red Sox bullpen catcher Manny Martinez.

We’re not so sure Manny Martinez should be getting paid the same to appear in Japan as Manny Ramirez.

We’re guessing this will be resolved in short order, with the coaches getting more like $15-20K for their time. Hopefully.

UPDATE: We’re actually hearing some media members speculating that the Red Sox might not go to Japan. Absurd. Of course they will. They might skip today’s Spring Training game against the Blue Jays, but they WILL GO TO JAPAN. Everyone calm down.