Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was reportedly placed under arrest in his native Dominican Republic on Monday after he failed to answer a summons last week pertaining to allegations he engaged in relationships with minors.
Franco finally met with prosecutors Monday, according to a report from Deportivo, and was placed under arrest at Puerto Plata, according to the report. Additionally, Franco is scheduled to go in front of a judge Wednesday where he allegedly will be arraigned and held without bail.
The 22-year-old was ordered to meet with authorities from the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Children and Adolescents on Thursday in the city of Santo Domingo but never arrived.
Reports Thursday said that Franco had fired his legal team. Authorities in the Dominican Republic conducted a pair of searches last week looking for Franco but were unable to find him, according to the Listin Diario newspaper.
At least two people have filed lawsuits against Franco, and he is under investigation for an alleged improper relationship with a third minor, ESPN reported.
The Rays placed Franco on the restricted list Aug. 14 and then on paid administrative leave on Aug. 22 as MLB launched an investigation into social media posts indicating Franco was involved in an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
Franco since was moved to Tampa Bay’s active roster, but only because administrative leave is unavailable during the offseason. He could be placed back on administrative leave when spring training begins.
Franco, who was first called up in 2021 as one of the most hyped prospects in recent years, played a career-high 112 games and was an All-Star for the first time in 2023. He set career highs in virtually all statistical categories, including home runs (17), RBIs (58), steals (30) and runs (65) while batting .281 with a .344 on-base percentage and a .475 slugging percentage.
