DETROIT — There are few bigger advocates for minor league baseball players than Emily Waldon. Back in the spring of 2019, Waldon, then writing for The Athletic, put one of the brightest spotlights on the financial inequities facing minor leaguers, under the headline, “I can’t afford to play this game.” Within the month, the Toronto Blue Jays responded to the article by pledging to do better, including a groundbreaking plan to increase their minor leaguers’ pay by 50%. Major League Baseball has since made similar strides. In 2020, when the minor league baseball season was canceled because of th…