Wander Franco’s authorized staff within the Dominican Republic is now looking for to overturn his conviction within the sexual abuse case that has derailed his baseball profession and left his MLB future unsure. The Tampa Bay Rays shortstop was discovered responsible in June 2025 of sexually abusing a 14-year-old lady and obtained a two-year suspended sentence from a three-judge panel. Prosecutors had sought a five-year jail time period, however Franco averted jail time beneath the situation that he complies with court docket supervision. He has maintained his innocence for the reason that case surfaced in August 2023.
Franco’s legal professional, Teodosio Jáquez, has acknowledged that the protection plans to file for exoneration, a authorized movement in Dominican courts that challenges each the conviction and the method that led to it. Some retailers have described the maneuver as a petition for annulment, however in authorized phrases it’s nearer to an attraction that seeks to vacate the conviction totally. Franco’s authorized staff argues that his trial was compromised by procedural errors and what they name inadequate proof. Throughout the proceedings, a number of witnesses initially anticipated to testify didn’t seem, a degree the protection continues to emphasise as grounds for dismissal.
Officers within the Dominican judiciary haven’t but introduced a timeline for reviewing Franco’s request, and it’s unclear how lengthy the authorized course of may take. If a court docket agrees to overview the case and in the end overturns the conviction, Franco’s felony report within the Dominican Republic may very well be cleared. Nevertheless, even a authorized victory wouldn’t robotically restore his skilled baseball profession.
Franco stays on Main League Baseball’s Restricted Record, the place he has been since August 2023. Gamers on the record are barred from competing, don’t obtain wage, and don’t accrue service time. MLB has acknowledged in related previous circumstances that its disciplinary selections function independently of authorized outcomes, which means even when Franco’s conviction is vacated, he would nonetheless be topic to MLB investigation and potential suspension beneath the league’s Joint Home Violence, Sexual Assault and Little one Abuse Coverage.
There are additionally immigration implications. Any effort for Franco to return to MLB would require U.S. visa approval, a course of that may very well be sophisticated by the present conviction and the character of the allegations. Public notion would even be a significant component, as any MLB staff contemplating signing him would face intense scrutiny.
The Rays haven’t commented publicly past acknowledging Franco’s restricted standing, and no MLB entrance workplace govt has instructed there may be presently a path again to the sphere for him. Realistically, a return would seemingly require Franco to be totally exonerated within the Dominican Republic after which cleared by MLB investigators. With out each outcomes, his profession stays indefinitely frozen.
For now, Wander Franco’s future in baseball hinges on the success of his authorized technique. His attorneys insist they are going to show his innocence and are optimistic concerning the coming attraction. However till Dominican courts act, his case stays one of the complicated and unsure off-field authorized sagas in current MLB historical past.
