Lowman pitching for Kennesaw State in 2015.
Will Lowman was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 20th round of the 2015 MLB Draft from Kennesaw State University. Lowman pitched for the Missoula Osprey, the rookie ball affiliate of the D-Backs, for two seasons. Grinding in Montana for two seasons, Lowman went through a lot and was pleased to share some of his experiences with the MLM team in a Zoom interview. While the Diamondbacks are a top-notch organization, Lowman points out that across all of Minor League Baseball, there is some serious inequality, economic and otherwise, and changes need to be made.
"It's rough for everyone but the foreign players have it a lot worse than the rest of us. I played with a bunch of guys from the Dominican Republic who, after the season, went back to the D.R. with their stuff in trash bags. They hardly had anything left.
We were not getting paid four months out of the year. I had to pick up two separate jobs in the offseason just to keep my bills paid.
It's terrible. My first regular season was rookie ball. I was in Missoula, Montana. We played 85 games in 90 days. We had six guys living in a two bedroom apartment on air mattresses without A/C. I had to pay all of my expenses off of only $1100. That is not okay. I could have worked at McDonald's in Missoula for more money.
Missoula was awesome, but they didn't have host parents. We were paying rent out of pocket with $1100 because we had to. We went down to the bicycle shop and made our own bikes for free out of scraps.
When I was released, my manager called me into his office and gave me a hug. He gave me a check for $750 and said, "Good luck getting home and that's from the Diamondbacks." The cheapest plane ticket home was $1200. I had to wait with some other guys who were still on the team. Finally, the father of my catcher in college, who is a private pilot, came and picked me up. Without that connection, I don't know how long I would have been in Montana.
If you don't have an agent, the wages are $1100 in rookie ball, $1200 in AA, and $1500 in AAA. You have lifers in AAA who are like 28 years old trying to support a family on $1500 a month.
It's all about opportunities. I have seen guys get released from rookie ball and sign with a AA team a day later because it was a better fit.
In the offseason, I would work 6 AM - 9 PM, whether it be either of my two jobs or working out trying to get better. It was a grind just to avoid my bank balance going negative.
- Will Lowman