MLB has positioned Tampa Bay Rays star Wander Franco on administrative depart via a minimum of June 1, based on ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The league initially positioned Franco on administrative depart final August, the place he remained at some stage in the 2023 season, after he turned the topic of an investigation within the Dominican Republic relating to allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
The Rays subsequently reinstated Franco in a procedural transfer as a result of the executive depart designation is just relevant through the season.
The 23-year-old was arrested on Jan. 1 and granted a conditional launch from jail per week later.
In response to Passan and colleague Juan Arturo Recio, prosecutors allege Franco started a relationship with a teenage woman and had intercourse together with her in December 2022, when she was 14. He allegedly acknowledged in a dialog their relationship “might trigger issues for me” if the Rays had been made conscious.
“It’s a rule for all groups that we can’t speak to minors, and but I took the chance and I liked it,” he wrote to her, per Passan and Recio.
Franco allegedly supplied cash and items to the woman and her mom partly to maintain quiet in regards to the relationship. The woman’s mom is going through expenses of cash laundering, based on the ESPN report.
Prosecutors pointed to “transcripts of interviews with the woman and her family members, messages between Franco and the woman, and extra” as proof towards Franco, per ESPN.
Jay Reisinger, an lawyer for the 23-year-old, issued a press release to Passan and Recio addressing the allegations.
“There are severe questions relating to the authenticity of specific paperwork and references contained within the prosecutor’s confidential file, which was inappropriately disclosed to sure media retailers,” he stated. “We’re in session with Mr. Franco’s authorized counsel within the Dominican Republic, and we intend to take the mandatory authorized measures in response.”
By happening administrative depart, Franco is entitled to gather his $2 million wage for the 2024 season. In response to Passan, his standing might change earlier than June 1 relying on how his case evolves. MLB and the MLB Gamers Affiliation might as a substitute resolve to increase his interval on administrative depart or shift him to the restricted record, through which case he’d not be paid.