Trial for Rays’ Wander Franco postponed until June 2

TAMPA, Fla. — Rays shortstop Wander Franco’s trial, slated to start Thursday in the Dominican Republic, has been delayed until June 2.

Franco, 23, is facing charges of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor and human trafficking, with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. The charges stem from a relationship with a then-14-year-old girl that started in December 2022, when Franco was 21.

The delay was requested by the prosecutors as several key witnesses were not present, and there was some question if they were properly summoned. ESPN reported that only three of the 36 who are scheduled to testify were in the courtroom on Thursday; the Associated Press said it was three of 31. Among the missing, per the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre, were the medical and psychological personnel who examined the minor.

As a result, Franco’s lead lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, told the Associated Press after the hearing, “There is no case against Wander, for as many witnesses as they present, there is no case now.” Jaquez told other reporters he expects an acquittal. One of the prosecutors, meanwhile, said they felt they still had a strong case.

Franco was in the Puerto Plata courtroom when the ruling for the delay was made and made clear he has plans to resume his career soon, which obviously would require a resolution of the case in his favor. Franco has not played for the Rays since August 2023, when word of the relationship first surfaced on social media.

His lawyers, per the noticiassin.com website, had asked the judge for a trial schedule that would accommodate commitments abroad in February, which would be the opening of spring training, and then to reconsider the delay. As terms of his release from detainment, Franco has to make monthly check-ins with the court, and the pending charges make it unlikely he could get a work visa to enter the United States.

Speaking briefly to reporters on Thursday, Franco “was a little upset,” per the Associated Press, when asked if his career was over.

“I did not had a career,” he said, per the AP. “This is not over.”

He also said that he wants to see justice done and that “everything is in God’s hands.”

There is also a large financial component to the case as the Rays still owe Franco $172 million of the $182 million, 11-year contract they awarded him after his 2021 rookie season.

He was paid a portion of his $2 million salary last season until July, when he was shifted from administrative leave — a non-disciplinary measure under the league/union joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy — to Major League Baseball’s restricted list. His salary jumps to $8 million this coming season.

With the trial — which by Dominican legal process precedent could take three to eight months — delayed until June, any chance Franco had of a quick resolution in his favor and a return to the field during the 2025 season would seem to be eliminated, unless the charges were dropped before then.

Plus, once the legal process is complete, Major League Baseball has to complete its investigation and determine if Franco will be disciplined. So even if there was a quick ruling in Franco’s favor in June — which the judge said was the next opening in the court’s calendar for the trial — it seems unlikely MLB would work through the investigative, deliberation and potential discipline and appeal processes before the end of the 2025 season.

The league started an investigation in August 2023, but the bulk of its work, including interviewing Franco and other key people in the case, is likely still to be done.