May 25, 2022; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco (5) at bat during the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
MLB: Miami Marlins at Tampa Bay Rays
(New York, NY) – A report from ESPN is attempting to bring more clarity to the legal situation involving Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, who has been on the MLB restricted list since August of last year, amid allegations he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a minor girl.
One of the text messages referenced in ESPN’s report reads (in Spanish): “My girl,” Franco allegedly wrote, “If my team realizes this, it could cause problems for me. It is a rule for all teams that we cannot talk to minors, and yet I took the risk and I loved it.”
But Franco’s defense team is calling the validity of those texts into question, it seems. Jay Reisinger, a US-based attorney representing Franco, provided a statement to ESPN that reads “There are serious questions regarding the authenticity of particular documents and references contained in the prosecutor’s confidential file, which was inappropriately disclosed to certain media outlets.”
Generally speaking, Franco is in hot water for allegedly engaging in sexual relations with a minor, in violation of Dominican Republic law. Such actions, or even something resembling such allegations, could also lead to a lengthy suspension from MLB, even if Franco is acquitted. The case also involves the alleged minor victim’s mother, who is accused of various financial crimes. Prosecutors say the girl’s mother acted almost like her pimp, requesting and accepting money from Franco in exchange for him dating the teenager. ESPN makes mention of an interview with female victim did with a forensic psychologist, in which the girl reportedly said “[my mom] see[s] me as an object to make money.” She also alleged her mom is a heavy drinker who often “gets violent,” and she no longer lives with her mom. “I don’t see her as a mother. A mother doesn’t do what she has done with me.”
ESPN’s reporting has unearthed several alleged texts sent from Franco the teenage female victim, one exchange reads as follows: FRANCO: “I would like you to forget everything you have learned to raise you my way.” GIRL: “And what is your way? Without love? Without respect?” FRANCO: “There was more to it but you’re just a girl and you don’t know how to get along with me, that’s why you failed, but I’ll give you only one chance, you must be only for me. Don’t look at anyone, I know you’ve been with someone else, but no one will know how to use you the way I want.”
The article spends a lot of time documenting the relationship between the female victim and her mother. She’s also awaiting some kind of resolution, as ESPN reports the girl told the psychologist: “I just wanted to talk, because I want all of this to end.”
When it does end, it could go down as one of the most spectacular falls from grace in MLB history. Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million contract in 2021 – the highest in Rays history. Some had projected him as a future Hall of Famer. Now, at just 22-years-of-age, it could be all over for Franco.
