The Associated Press said on the 15th (Korean time), “The Department of Justice of the Dominican Republic, Franco’s home country, has started an investigation.” “Franco will not be allowed to play until the investigation is over.”먹튀검증
Franco was recently embroiled in controversy after a photo of him with a seemingly underage woman surfaced on social media. In addition to the photos, a revelation was also posted stating that “Franco has had an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old underage girl.” As the wave grew, the Dominican Republic launched an official investigation, and MLB also began to understand the situation.
Franco is a genius shortstop who debuted in the big leagues in 2021 at the age of 20. In November of that year, he surprised the baseball world by signing a super-large long-term contract with Tampa Bay for up to 223 million dollars (about 298.4 billion won) for 12 years. It is symbolic that Tampa Bay, which is famous for being a “trumpy club,” poured that much money into a single player.
Tampa Bay is 72-49 (0.595 win rate), ranking second in the Eastern Division of the American League and first in the wild card. If Franco, a key player in the infield and a leading star, leaves for a long period of time, the race for the rest of the season could be hit hard. Franco played in 112 games this season with a batting average of 0.281, 17 homers and 58 RBIs.