After social media posts questioned the alleged nature of a relationship between Wander Franco and a younger lady, Major League Baseball initiated an inquiry into the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop and the team placed him on the restricted list, sources familiar with the case told ESPN.
The Rays started a three-game series Monday night with a 10-2 victory against the Giants, but Franco, 22, did not travel with the team. Teams can remove a player from their squad by placing them on the restricted list for a number of reasons, including conceivable legal issues.
While teams are not required to pay players who are on the restricted list, the Rays are continuing to pay Franco’s $2 million salary, sources told ESPN.
The team issued the following statement: “The Tampa Bay Rays and Wander Franco have mutually agreed that he will go on the Restricted List and take leave from the Club for the duration of the current road trip.”
The league is looking into a series of social media posts about Franco’s alleged relationship with the woman in the Dominican Republic, where he was raised, as part of an investigation being carried out by its department of investigations.
When questioned about the alleged relationship, the Dominican Republic’s media office of the attorney general said in a statement that “there are investigations regarding that matter.”
Following a planned day off on Sunday, according to Rays manager Kevin Cash, Franco left the game in the fifth inning after starting it in the dugout. After the game, he avoided speaking with the media.
Cash said he was still confident in his team’s ability to concentrate on baseball on Monday but declined to go into further detail about the situation.
Franco reached an 11-year, $182 million contract extension with the Rays in November 2021, 70 games into his career. With a batting line of.281/.344/.475 with 17 home runs, 58 runs batted in, and 30 stolen bases this season, 먹튀검증토토사이트 Franco has been among the most productive players in MLB. He also made his first All-Star team.
