What's next for Rays shortstop Wander Franco?

Wander Franco is further than he's ever been from a return to Major League Baseball, but his legal situation in the Dominican Republic is far from settled.

The Rays shortstop, once heralded as one of MLB's most promising young talents, was found guilty for a second time of sexual and psychological abuse of a minor earlier this week. He was, however, granted a judicial pardon that will keep him out of prison.

Monday's ruling from a three-judge panel continues a theme in Franco's trials: the verdict satisfies neither the prosecution nor the defendant.

Franco was first found guilty and sentenced to essentially two years' probation in June 2025, but a new trial was ordered after both sides appealed.

Prosecutors are aiming for a prison sentence, while Franco is hoping to return to the Rays and salvage the $160 million remaining on the $182 million, 11-year contract the team signed him to in November 2021.

The latest ruling makes both improbable. While the judicial pardon keeps Franco out of prison, the conviction is expected to prevent him from obtaining a work visa to return to the United States, and therefore, Major League Baseball. The full ruling, with more details, will be read in court on June 16.

"If he can not present himself to work in the United States, that could lead to the Rays looking to annul his contract," Dominican lawyer and journalist Juan Arturo Recio told the Tampa Bay Times.

"With Monday's verdict, Franco playing in Major League Baseball is completely out of the picture at the moment."

Franco's attorney, Teodosio Jáquez, told The Associated Press he'd comment further on June 16. The prosecution, however, has already committed to appealing the ruling, which could add months to an already length saga.

"We said it from the beginning: the proof speaks for itself," Claudio Alberto Cordero Jiménez, one of the prosecutors, said in a statement announcing the appeal on Monday. "The defense did not provide any evidence; it only constructed a spectacle in an effort to sow confusion."

Judicial pardons, Recio said, are awarded in the Dominican Republic criminal justice system with some frequency, normally for nonviolent crimes that do not carry a maximum prison sentence longer than a decade. Franco, Recio said, faced a maximum of five years.

Franco's pardon, Recio said, is rooted in the court viewing Franco as a victim of extortion, in addition to his defendant status. The mother of the minor was sentenced to 10 years for money laundering and "threats of exposure" on Monday. She received a similar sentence last June.

But, Recio said, the prosecution seems to have solid ground on which to challenge the pardon.

"The extortion, which happened afterward, was only possible because of the crime Franco committed in the first place," Recio told the Times. "So, juridically, for that to be the basis of the decision to grant a judicial pardon, to me, does not make a lot of sense."

Franco's charges stem from a relationship he had while he was 21 with a then-14-year-old girl that started in December 2022 and continued until February 2023.

Word of the relationship first surfaced on social media in August 2023, a month after he made his first All-Star appearance. Franco has not played for the Rays since.

He initially was placed on administrative leave and received a portion of his salary, but he was shifted to MLB's restricted list and stopped receiving payments from the Rays after charges were filed in 2024.

This week's ruling doesn't bode well for Franco's possible playing career outside of Major League Baseball either.

Japan's professional league, Recio said, "has a moral clause that establishes how players and team personnel should conduct themselves. It signals that people responsible for sexual misconduct cannot play in the league." Mexico's league has a similar, although less stringent, policy.

Playing in the Dominican league is also far from a guarantee. The league blocked former Cleveland Guardians' pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz from playing in its most recent season after they were placed on leave by MLB amid a sports gambling investigation.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 11:05 PM.