Weeks before his sexual-abuse trial is scheduled to start, Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was arrested in the Dominican Republic in connection with an altercation allegedly involving guns, local officials said Monday.
Authorities seized a pair of firearms — including one presumably belonging to Franco — following the incident in a San Juan de la Maguana parking lot, according to a police spokesman.
Franco, 23, and another man allegedly engaged in the dispute over a woman. Franco, a man and a woman were all detained, according to authorities.
Police arrested Franco on Sunday, just over a month before he’s set to stand trial on Dec. 12 for charges stemming from an alleged relationship with a female minor.
In July, Franco was charged in his native Dominican Republic with sexual abuse, sexual exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking in that prior case and faces up to 20 years in prison.
He was placed on the league’s restricted list in July after he was formally charged, meaning he would no longer receive pay, as he had while he was on administrative leave.
Once one of baseball’s fastest-rising stars, Franco reached an 11-year, $182 million contract in 2021 in what was a rare long-term mega-deal for the small-market Rays.
The switch-hitting Franco batted .282 with 30 home runs, 130 RBI, 40 stolen bases and a .795 OPS through 265 career games and was an American League All-Star last year, but he has not played since Aug. 12, 2023, due to the allegations.
“Serious charges,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said in July before a game against the Yankees in Tampa. “Very concerning. Probably best that I don’t comment much past that, and keep our focus here on this team. “
With News Wire Services
