I know some kids out of college and even older who work all day at low paying jobs, then go practice or play baseball in a town league most every day including weekends from April until September.
They pay their own travel expenses, pay for food, and pay for everything else that is required. Some have little if any insurance and have problems making ends meet. They practice and play for zero! Worse than zero, it actually costs them money to play for nothing but the love for the game. Might not make sense to all of us, but that is loving the game.
This town league is full of players who would trade places with any minor league player in a heart beat.
The "real" players aren't playing baseball for the money. Yet some of them make it and end up being very wealthy. Others become wealthy the day they sign a contract. For most, wealth is not the right reason to be playing baseball.
I know others who practice and play golf every day of the week. Some who even travel all over the place to play golf. Why do people do this? Then there is the serious softball player or tennis player. How many golfers, softball players or tennis players get paid to play?
There are kids who practice and play baseball everyday in the summer. Sometimes they pay for this privilage. They travel all over the country doing this, it's actually their life for the summer. Often their parents pay a lot of money to do this. It's very tiring and hard, but many of the kids really love it and can't wait for the next summer to do it again. They are among the "real" players.
There are people who spend their entire summer coaching youth baseball for no financial gain. Sometimes people do things just because they love doing it.
Back to the town leagues, they charge at the gate and sell consessions and print programs just like a small time minor league club. But the players play for nothing and they have almost no chance of making the big time dollars in baseball. I know it's not the same, but there are some similarities.
Life time minor leaguers might have had a better life doing something else, but they just didn't want anything else. I for one can respect that and understand it.
Finally... I too believe minor league players are under paid. I wish they were paid enough to live more comfortably. There is an obnvious inequity from the minor league 1st rounder and the 35th rounder. They have the same job, but one has much more security. But we have to remember that the MLB club puts a value on a player before he signs on. If that value is a thousand dollars, they don't think of you as having a lot of value. It's up to the player if that is something he wants to do. And to prove the MLB club wrong as to his value.
Sometimes that is exactly what happens!