MMO Exclusive: Emily Waldon of The Athletic

The life of a minor league baseball player is one that’s filled with great hope and desire. A desire to fulfill one’s ultimate dream that, for many, started on local baseball fields, sandlots or backyards: to make it to the Major Leagues.

In this pursuit, the young players embark on a path that they hope will lead them to this ascension. The countless hours of honing one’s craft on and off the field, having the mental toughness to persevere through rough stretches and sacrificing many personal life events can be extremely taxing, but ultimately, worth the hopeful reward.

Beyond the difficult odds of making the major leagues, other obstacles make life for a minor league player very arduous.

From not getting paid during spring training except receiving a pittance for meals, to housing issues where cramped and unfavorable conditions readily exist, to not receiving livable wages; the life of a minor league player is not what many fans often perceive it to be.

Emily Waldon, a national prospect writer for The Athletic, wanted to reveal the less than desirable aspects of minor league life.

Waldon wrote an in-depth, eye-opening article for The Athletic back in mid-March with the headline: “‘I can’t afford to play this game’: Minor-leaguers open up about the realities of their pay, and its impact on their lives.”

Speaking with 30 people, which included current and former players, their families and minor league staff, Waldon highlights the financial impediments these young players encounter, with many finding it difficult to continue pursuing their dreams.

The anecdotes shared in Waldon’s piece emphasize the tough circumstances these players endure as they look to rise through organizations. The picture painted by Minor League Baseball is a stark contrast to what the N.H.L. and N.B.A. offer to their developmental leagues. The N.B.A.’s G League raised its salaries for players in 2018, guaranteeing $35,000 a year while also including housing. The N.H.L.’s American Hockey League offers players working off a standard contract a minimum of $47,500.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball spent roughly $2.6 million on lobbying to ensure that an exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 be legalized in their “Save America’s Pastime Act.” It was included in the spending bill that was signed into law last year by President Trump. Essentially, Major League Baseball was looking to legally find a way to suppress minor league players’ wages and ensure that they did not have to pay them for any overtime.

With lengthy travel on buses, conditioning on and off the field and time spent at the park, their weekly work hours far exceed 40 hours, yet, since they’re deemed as “seasonal workers” they are only compensated for the 40-hour workweek.

In her piece, Waldon broke down the affiliate minimum salaries, which certainly raises eyebrows. Their salaries range from $6,380 to $14,850 depending on the level and number of years spent with an affiliate (there is variance depending on free-agent agreements and players on the 40-man roster).

While many would argue that minor league players receive hefty signing bonuses, the majority don’t. In an article for Baseball America, Ben Badler reported that in the 2015 Draft, 60 percent of players got less than $100,000, while 40 percent signed for $10,000 or less.

Factoring those numbers in, this line in Waldon’s piece is staggering: “Still, factoring in all the expenses of playing professionally, even while recognizing the obvious impact of bonuses, it’s a sobering fact that in 2019, the federally recognized poverty line for a single-income household is $14,380.”

Using her platform with The Athletic and on social media, Waldon has long been an advocate of fair wages for minor leaguers. Her hope is that with continued discussion and articles that illustrate the hurdles players go through each season financially, that change will finally occur for the better.

We’ve already seen one organization take a stand and be an outlier in the Toronto Blue Jays. Waldon and Ken Rosenthal reported just a few days after her comprehensive piece was published that the Blue Jays were “finalizing a pay increase of more than 50 percent for any player who is on a roster of an affiliated minor-league club, from the lowest rung in the Dominican Summer League to the highest level at Triple-A.”

A report from Jeff Passan of ESPN in March said that Major League Baseball and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (which oversees the minors) held a bargaining session that touched on significant salary increases, a higher standard of living conditions and better transportation in the minors.

It’s encouraging to hear that discussions have taken place, with plenty more to come considering the two parties working agreement expires in September 2020.

Providing players with higher pay and better overall conditions is not only the right thing to do, but it should pay dividends for the major league club. With better working conditions, minor league players could potentially advance and develop quicker, given better nutrition, training and living quarters.

The minor league coverage Waldon provides is well worth The Athletic’s subscription price, as her astute insight and assessments on the next generation of players is always informative.

Initially assigned as the The Athletic’s Detroit Tigers’ minor league writer for their Detroit chapter, Waldon has branched out and started providing national minor league coverage since 2018.

Waldon’s early passion for the game – which was shared with her father and brothers – has seen her rise in the industry as a leading voice for minor league coverage.

The outlet she provides gives a voice to these young aspiring players, hoping that with important articles like Waldon’s, it’ll pave the way for real concrete change to occur.

I had the privilege of speaking with Ms. Waldon in early-May, where we discussed her in-depth piece for The Athletic, the continuing support for minor-leaguers and her beginnings with sports writing.

MMO: You’ve been a huge advocate of fair wages for minor league players. In your piece for The Athletic, you write about the struggle most go through with meager pay, poor nutrition and rough living conditions. Can you talk about writing the article? How long had you thought about writing about this topic and what was the reporting like?

Waldon: It’s been something that’s been in the back of my mind probably for about two years. It really kind of came down to the urgency to step forward and initially put the piece together.

It was such a complex topic and a touchy subject and there was so much involved in the whole process of getting the details. It was a little intimidating to be completely honest. It took the task of really sitting down and asking, What’s the best way to put this into a good format? How can I make it factual and make sure it’s going to get clear representation to the fans?

Getting the players on board – which was the most challenging part of it – I’m very grateful with how they were willing to talk with me and that it all came together. It was a really cool thing to watch.

MMO: In the article, you mentioned that players would be the first to tell you that they didn’t dare bring up their pay publicly over the fear that the organization would release them. Did you find that many players were apprehensive to speak due to fear of repercussions?

Waldon: Very much so. It’s a huge challenge to get enough of the players to trust you. A lot of them were aware of who I am, but they didn’t know me on that personal level which you need to have in order to trust.

A lot of it took the process of me sort of giving them a crash course of this is who I am, this is why I’m doing it, now I just need you to let me run with it. So it took a lot of trust on their part.

Obviously, they were putting their careers in jeopardy with having these conversations. But the fact that they did open up and the fact that they did trust me with it was extremely humbling to be able to present that topic on their behalf.

I really owe all the success of this piece to them because they’re the ones who spoke about it.

MMO: Has there been a lot of feedback from current and former players on your piece?

Waldon: Yeah, we’ve had a good amount of feedback from people, current and former minor league players. I’ve had good feedback from the organizations as well. And obviously, it’s been more of an off the record type of conversation, which I completely understand.

It’s been something that I think has helped me draw the conclusion that every team wants their players treated well. It’s something that still needs to be addressed where it’s: How do we make our players feel appreciated to also still be able to run the organization in a good way?

MMO: One of the lines that really stood out to me after you addressed the average salaries of the various affiliates was just how close, or even under, many of their salaries are to the federally recognized poverty line for a single-income household.

What I’ve found, as I’m sure you have, is that there are people who will argue that these guys are just playing a game, and if they want to make a steady income they can just quit and get a regular job. What would you say to those detractors?

Waldon: Probably one of the lessons I’ve learned from social media is you really have to pick and choose your battles. A lot of people are going to argue with you no matter what you say. So I think that’s a big aspect. If you want to be able to thrive in the business you can’t take things personally, and you can’t fight these battles over and over and over again.

The piece of it that I’ve really worked to present to people is, yes, they play a game. But they’re employees. No matter how you paint that picture, they are employees. In perspective, would you say that an employee working at a job here in the United States – where we are extremely huge advocates for fair treatment – are not getting fair wages, is that okay with you?

For a lot of people, that put it in perspective for them that these are actually working employees who have a job and they’re at the national poverty line. I think that’s a big wake-up call for people seeing it in that perspective. Also understanding that these guys don’t put on uniforms and have their lives be this incredible thing day in and day out.

It’s extremely challenging and that was really one of the driving forces behind wanting to write the article. I was really happy with the educational facts and I’m hoping it continues to open eyes.

MMO: The obstacles these minor league players face is especially damning when you compare it to the N.B.A.’s G League or N.H.L.’s American Hockey League.

Waldon: Absolutely. It’s something that I’m hoping baseball is able to find a little bit of a turning point with so that they stand out more for fair treatment instead of standing out for the not so fair treatment.

We’re hoping that over the next few years we start to see more change. The Toronto Blue Jays have done a change of their own, and we’re hoping that more teams jump on board with that.

MMO: Speaking of the Blue Jays, you and Ken Rosenthal reported that they were finalizing a pay increase of more than 50 percent for any who is on a roster of an affiliated minor-league club back in March. Teams can increase their minor league pay without the approval of Major League Baseball. Do you envision other teams falling in line and following in the Jays’ path?

Waldon: You know, it’s hard to know exactly because we don’t get the privilege of seeing behind closed doors for a lot of these meetings. A lot of other teams are talking about it but it’s going to be a matter of who decides to pull that trigger first.

The Blue Jays have set the bar and I’m hoping more teams will follow that example.

MMO: Was there a specific anecdote that really stood out to you from your piece?

Waldon: The guys talked about the challenges of trying to pay bills and pay rent. If they have families and kids it’s very challenging in that regard. I covered a lot of that in the piece as far as the stories go, and it was very eye-opening for me. It was very eye-opening for me and everyone else with those detailed experiences.

I think that it really kind of provides an appreciation from the fans to know what they go through and the fact that they still have to go out on the field for every game and perform. It’s a lot of pressure on them and I think it’s made the fans a lot more appreciative of what they do every season.

MMO: You did a terrific job with getting these players to open up about their difficulties and challenges faced each season just to continue to financially be able to pursue their dreams. I have to imagine that hearing the personal stories from these guys makes it more real for fans to understand where they’re coming from.

Waldon: I think hearing more of the personal stories certainly made me appreciate their struggles a bit more, because I had heard stories about the challenges of that and hearing it on a personal level was definitely a very sobering moment. I think it really opens the fans’ eyes as well on sharing specifics like that, because it was definitely a very vital part of the piece and I think it really helped put everything together.

MMO: It appears that more and more people are talking about the unfortunate conditions and pay of minor leaguers. We’ve seen on social media prominent current major league players come out in support of them. Do you think that’s something we continue to see happen? And how important is their vocal support for these players?

Waldon: I think it’s going to be something that a lot of players are hopefully going to continue to get on board with. Coming up on the new CBA, it’s going to be a big part of it too. At the end of the day, the minor league players don’t have a union. They don’t have a group that watches out for them, so I think the advocacy from the major league players like Sean Doolittle and Adam Wainwright, and seeing these guys come out publicly is a big piece for them.

It’s encouraging for the guys to see and I think they really need all the encouragement they can get. I’m highly appreciative of what they’ve done for the minor league players.

MMO: Switching gears a bit, can you talk a bit about your own baseball fandom? Who introduced you to the game and who are some of your favorite players?

Waldon: I grew up around the game. My dad was a huge baseball fan and so we always kind of had a game around. My brothers played so that’s really what I knew growing up just being at the field all the time, and it always felt comfortable to me. It always felt like a fun place for me to go.

I would catch myself analyzing players and started watching how they played so getting an opportunity to turn that into the role that I have now is really an incredible thing. Just being able to do what  I love and pursuing the dream of working in the game full-time is something I’ve always wanted to do. And carrying that over to my work with The Athletic has been just an incredible thing.

I was kind of directed to the Tigers growing up in West Michigan in Grand Rapids, so I watched a lot of them growing up. But I grew up appreciating a pure athlete and there are so many guys to name. But in today’s game, guys like Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa, just two guys who have fun on the field. To me, it’s always going to be a game no matter how business-like it is.

I enjoy watching guys like that who go out there and have fun. Another guy is Max Scherzer, who I’m extremely a big fan of in the way that he works and the intensity he brings.

MMO: Did you always have a desire to cover the minor leagues?

Waldon: I honestly never had aspirations to cover Minor League Baseball. It sort of fell into my lap when I started writing for the Bless You Boys blog for SB Nation, which is about four years ago now. They said, “Since you live in Grand Rapids, how would you like to cover the West Michigan Whitecaps?”

And that’s about ten minutes from my house and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’

It turned into a full system, top to bottom coverage that I sort of put together. That led to doing more on the national circuit, pulling from around the league.

It was a lot of trial and error and feeling my way through things, but having an incredible support system around me has really been the thing that kept me going and got me here. I would say I still have a lot of work left to do ahead, but that’s half the fun.

I’ve enjoyed the ride and look forward to what else is ahead

MMO: Can you talk a bit about your writing career?

Waldon: It was really just a matter of me putting myself out there with the stuff I was writing. I don’t have a degree in journalism, so that always made the thought more intimidating, wondering if anyone would take me or if the interest was there. In the way the doors have opened [for me] has really shown that hey, maybe I can do this.

I wrote for a prospect blog and then when The Athletic Detroit launched in June of 2017, I was approached a few months after to see if I was interested in doing Tigers’ farm coverage for them, because I had kind of become known for doing that. They asked if I wanted to do that for them and I told them absolutely! I’ve been doing that with them since 2017 and started doing the national circuit for The Athletic last year. It’s kept me busy but it’s been an incredible experience.

MMO: I appreciate the time, Emily. Thanks so much for speaking with me today.

Waldon: Absolutely! Thanks so much.

Follow Emily Waldon on Twitter, @EmilyCWaldon.