(Photo : Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – Wander Franco (#5) of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after hitting a house run within the seventh inning throughout a recreation towards the St. Louis Cardinals at Tropicana Field on August 09, 2023, in St Petersburg, Florida.
Tampa Bay Rays star shortstop Wander Franco’s skilled baseball profession within the main leagues could also be all however over already.
MLB insider Hector Gomez stated {that a} supply near the investigations into the case of Franco stated that “it will be very unlikely that Franco will play in MLB again, judging by the results of the investigations that are currently being carried out, which directly commit him to the accusations.”
The 22-year-old is at present the topic of an investigation by authorities in his residence nation Dominican Republic for being in an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
Named within the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, Franco agreed to be positioned on the Rays’ restricted record on Sunday after the allegations turned public data, however he’ll proceed to receives a commission in the interim.
Franco addressed the rumors final Sunday on Instagram Live. He bluntly denied the accusations towards him, saying that “people don’t know what to do with their time; they don’t know what they’re talking about,” translated from Spanish.
“That’s why I prefer to be on my side and not get involved with anybody … because people gossip and talk smack,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Rays launched an announcement on Monday saying that they assist any steps the league took to grasp the scenario higher and that they may don’t have any additional feedback out of respect for all events concerned.
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Huge blow for the Tampa Bay Rays and baseball normally
The Dominican is broadly thought of among the best younger gamers within the sport, and he has been one of the vital necessary gamers for the Rays this season.
The workforce will certainly miss Franco’s manufacturing, as they at present sit in second place within the American League East standings with a 73-50 win-loss report, two video games behind the chief Baltimore Orioles. Tampa Bay owns the primary wild card spot within the American League.
Franco at present has a batting common of .281 with 17 residence runs, 58 RBIs, a .819 OPS, and 30 stolen bases in 112 video games this season.
Five months after his main league debut, Tampa Bay signed Franco to an enormous 11-year, $182 million contract extension, turning into the youngest participant in baseball historical past to signal a contract value greater than $100 million and the largest-ever deal for a participant with lower than one 12 months of taking part in within the main league.
The deal may attain upward of $223 million if the workforce possibility for the 2033 season is exercised and if sure circumstances are met for incentives.
The Rays signed him to be a part of their group in July 2017. Franco was ranked as one of many high worldwide prospects within the 2017 class, and he initially noticed motion with the workforce’s minor league affiliate, the Princeton Rays, out in West Virginia.
Franco subsequently performed for a number of Rays affiliate groups, such because the Bowling Green Hot Rods and the Durham Bulls. In 2020, he was ranked as the number one prospect in all of baseball.
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