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It’s been more than a year since Rays shortstop Wander Franco had his MLB career derailed by the disturbing allegations that led to him being arrested in the Dominican Republic, and he’s landed in hot water in his native country once again thanks to an incident that unfolded over the weekend.
Wander Franco attracted the attention of the Tampa Bay Rays prior to signing an international prospect deal accompanied by a $3.85 million signing bonus in 2017, and he slowly but surely worked his way up the ranks of the organization before making his MLB debut in 2021.
The shortstop played his first game in The Show just a little more than two years before he was tapped to replace an injured Aaron Judge on the American League All-Star Team roster, and while it seemed like he had a pretty bright future ahead of him, it got very, very dim thanks to what transpired around a month after that achievement.
In August 2023, the Rays placed Franco on their restricted list shortly before the MLB announced he had been put on indefinite administrative leave in connection to an investigation into the nature of his relationship with an underaged girl in the Dominican Republic.
Prosecutors in the country compiled enough evidence to formally charge Franco with the sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking of a victim they say was 14 years old when the alleged crimes were initially committed, and he’s been barred from leaving the country he’s permitted to freely roam after posting bail ahead of a trial currently slated for December.
According to ESPN, the 23-year-old may not be a free man for much longer based on a new development, as the outlet reports Franco was arrested in the town of San Juan de la Maguana in connection to an altercation on Sunday in “the parking lot of an apartment complex in which guns were drawn.”
Details are still pretty murky as of this writing, as police said Franco was being held for questioning (along with an unidentified woman) when the story broke. They noted he was theoretically allowed to possess a gun despite his bail status assuming he possessed the proper paperwork, but at this point, we don’t even know if he was one of the people who drew the firearms during the incident.
This is a developing story, and we’ll update this article with any new information that comes to light.