Alamo with the South Bend Cubs, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, in 2016.
Tyler Alamo was drafted in the 24th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs from Cypress High School in Cypress, CA and signed for $100,000. Alamo played six seasons in the MiLB in the Cubs organization. Spending his entire professional career in the MiLB and Independent Ball, he's certainly had his fair share of encounters with economic inequality. His firsthand experiences are similar to those of other players who spent their entire careers in the Minor Leagues. However, they are all equally as shocking.
"I lived very poor. When I was first drafted, I was paid $300 or so every two weeks. We were expected to pay $10 a day to live in the team hotel and for the meals we ate outside of the facility. After we paid our hotel fee we were left with nowhere near enough to do anything. The most I made was in AA where I made $750 every two weeks.
I think Minor League wages are unfair. We spent a minimum of 10 hours a day at the field. We got an off day once every 2-3 weeks if we were lucky. The pay doesn’t come close to being fair.
I dealt with many financial struggles. I had to sell my truck and other valuables to chase my dream. I didn’t have any help from my parents. My fiancé helped me a ton. If it wasn’t for her I would have no choice but to quit and get a job. Many of my teammates went through the same thing. Basically you can make a lot more money working part time at McDonald’s than you can playing in most levels of Minor League Baseball."
- Tyler Alamo