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Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is facing claims of an inappropriate relationship with a second underage girl.
A complaint against Franco, 22, was filed by a 17-year-old girl in his native Dominican Republic in July, the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre reported on Tuesday (August 14). The report came after a Facebook post re-shared on X claimed Franco "was dating a 14 year old and she is exposing him after he didn't send her the hush money."
Diario Libre specified that the underage girl who filed the complaint was not the girl mentioned in the social media posts. The Dominican Attorney General's Office confirmed it was investigating the allegations.
Franco appeared to deny the allegations in a video shared on Instagram Live.
“They say that I’m in public with a little girl, that I’m running around with a minor,” Franco said in Spanish. “People don’t know what to do with their time. They don’t know what they’re talking about.
The Rays confirmed that Major League Baseball was investigating the allegations in a statement obtained by Yahoo Sports' Hannah Keyser on Sunday (August 13).
“During today’s game, we were made aware of the social media posts that are circulating regarding Wander Franco. We take the situation seriously and are in close contact with Major League Baseball as it conducts its due diligence," the Rays said.
Rays manager Kevin Cash claimed that Franco's absence from the lineup was due to a scheduled day off and denied being aware of the speculation after the Rays' loss to the Cleveland Guardians Sunday night. Franco was also absent from the team's cross-country flight for their three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park beginning on Monday (August 14).
The Dominican native signed an 11-year extension with the Rays in November 2011 after a breakout rookie season and was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in 2023, hitting for a .281 average with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs in 442 at-bats.