Despite the losing record and the high ERA the year before, Drabowsky was Kansas City's Opening Day starter in 1965. He went 0–3 with a 5.55 ERA in his first five starts before getting sent to the bullpen, then demoted to the Athletics' Triple-A affiliate, now the Vancouver Mounties, halfway through June. Drabowsky was not called back up, finishing the season in Vancouver. In 14 games (five starts) with Kansas City, he had a 1–5 record and a 4.42 ERA. In 17 games (12 starts) with Vancouver, he had an 8–2 record with a 2.44 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 96 innings—his time in Vancouver would be the last time he ever pitching in the minor leagues. After the 1965 season, Baseball-Reference reports that the St. Louis Cardinals purchased his contract from Kansas City on an unknown date. The Society for American Baseball Research reports merely that the Cardinals were interested in selecting him in the Rule 5 Draft from Kansas City but ultimately never got a chance to select him. Either way, he would not pitch for the Cardinals in 1966, as the Baltimore Orioles took him in the Rule 5 Draft on November 29, 1965.