Former Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco had an outstanding career ahead of him but ESPN’s Juan Arturo Reci is reporting that the former baseball player has been formally charged with sexual abuse and sexual exploitation against a minor. This is something that obviously we are not going to get into as that seems to be the extent of what is known at this moment.
What this does mean though is that Wander Franco’s dreams of being reinstated from the MLB Commissioner’s Exempt List is likely not on the table. While the deadline of July 5 passed for Dominican prosecutors to press charges, a Dominican law allowed the judge to grant an additional 10 days for conclusions in the case to be filed.
The investigation against Wander Franco was regarding allegations that he had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl.
What does this mean for the future of Wander Franco in MLB?
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While the Tampa Bay Rays seemingly were ready to build around the young shortstop, it appears extremely likely that he will never be part of a major league team again. Obviously, this is not the most important part of this story but this is the extent that we are going to be touching this news.
Wander Franco had a promising start to his MLB career with 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases in his first 265 career games while claiming a 2023 All-Star appearance. However, he was immediately suspended while this investigation was going on and now it has seemingly reached its conclusion.
With players like pitcher Trevor Bauer attempting to make an MLB comeback and not able to get signed by any of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, it is extremely difficult to imagine seeing Wander Franco in the majors at all. It’s a shame because of the talent he possessed but what happens off the field is a lot more important than what happens on it.
The Rays have removed all mentions of him throughout Tropicana Field and did not respond for a comment when asked at the time of this story being published.
About the Author
Vincent Pensabene graduated from Saint Leo University in 2019 with a B.A. in Sport Business and has focused on the media side of sports. He writes for multiple publications and is interested in the reasoning of why things happen. Feel free to follow him on social media @TalkVinTalk and discuss all things sports.
