Wander Franco Probe Raises Legal Questions for MLB and Rays
Dominican Republic authorities arrested Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco on Monday for allegedly not complying with a summons to meet with law enforcement, the latest development in a disturbing controversy.
Franco, 22, is under investigation for possible sexual relations with women (girls) who are under the age of 18, which is the Dominican Republic’s age of consent. An adult who has sex with someone younger than the age of consent can be charged with statutory rape, meaning both persons agreed to intercourse but the partner under 18 can’t legally consent. Franco has not yet been charged or arrested for a sex offense-related crime.
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The Rays signed Franco, one of baseball’s rising stars, to an 11-year, $182 million contract in 2021. MLB placed Franco on administrative leave under the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy in August of last year, when he faced and denied the allegations.
Administrative leave is a common feature in American workplaces where an employee is suspected of wrongdoing but has not been found at fault. Here, the leave essentially buys time for MLB to investigate a player who is accused of serious offenses while simultaneously separating him—and the surrounding controversy—from his team, fans and broadcast partners.
Franco is ineligible to play while on leave. However, he’s still paid and accrues service time, consistent with the idea that he has not been found at fault and might eventually be cleared. If MLB finds insufficient grounds to punish him, the league will reinstate Franco.
As a private entity, MLB has limited means to investigate wrongdoing. While MLB can find a player’s refusal to cooperate grounds for punishment, it can’t compel non-MLB witnesses to participate.
Witnesses who speak with MLB investigators also aren’t under oath, making their assertions less reliable and possibly skewed and incomplete. Further, MLB has no subpoena power to compel the disclosure of emails, texts and other materials that could prove crucial. How those barriers impact MLB’s investigation of Franco, and alleged incidents that would have occurred in a foreign country and involved minors, remains to be seen.
Still, MLB has substantial discretion in determining whether a player engaged in domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse. A criminal charge, let alone a conviction, is not a prerequisite. The same is true of an administrative agency action, a lawsuit or other legal developments that might help to legitimize an MLB suspension. Ultimately the decision to suspend Franco is up to the league and commissioner Rob Manfred.
If MLB suspends Franco, he could appeal via arbitration, which in turn would assess if MLB possessed “just cause” to both find Franco at fault and to impose a suspension of a particular length. Arbitration would include review of available evidence and testimony.
While the league understandably wants to remove players who engage in domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse, it’s willingness to find fault has attracted criticism of late.
In 2022, MLB suspended pitcher Trevor Bauer 324 games, the equivalent of two full seasons and the longest non-lifetime ban in MLB history. MLB determined that even though Bauer wasn’t charged with a crime and adamantly maintained his innocence, it had enough confidence Bauer violated the domestic violence policy and deserved a lengthy punishment.
But an arbitrator deemed Bauer’s suspension excessive and reduced it to 194 games. Last October Bauer and his accuser reached a settlement where he paid her no money and publicly rebuked her claims.
The Rays also have a major stake in the outcome of MLB’s investigation, given that Franco is a young star but is linked to very troubling allegations. It’s possible the team could attempt to void Franco’s contract at some point, but doing so would be a difficult task.
Due to protections negotiated by the MLBPA for guaranteed contracts, MLB teams haven’t had much success trying to void contracts. This is true despite language in the uniform player contract that requires players to be good citizens and comply with the law.
In the 1980s, pitcher Lamarr Hoyt spent time behind bars for a drug offense but an arbitrator held the San Diego Padres still couldn’t terminate his deal. Years later, teams resorted to negotiating buyouts of a couple of pitchers, Sidney Ponson and Denny Neagle, who faced legal troubles. Perhaps the Rays could try a buyout approach with Franco, but they would likely have to pay him tens of millions of dollars.
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