Wander Franco conducts charity drive ahead of upcoming court trial in Dominican Republic

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop, Wander Franco, has been distanced from the playing field since Aug 13, 2023, when the MLB and a special division of minor and gender violence unit based out of Peravia, DR opened up an investigation into Franco's alledged relationship with a then 14-year old minor in his home country.

After the prosecutors produced strong evidence against Wander's alleged involvement with a minor in the summer of 2024, Puerto Plata court's district judge Pascual Valenzuela announced a ruling in favour of the prosecutors and declared the case worthy of moving to a trial. The trial was set for December 12, 2024, but was postponed to June 2, 2025.

On Saturday, Wander Franco, in an attempt to generate goodwill, shared a snapshot from a charity drive he conducted for orphaned kids in the Dominican Republic.

Take a look at the image here, captioned as:

"Today we visited some orphaned children. May God bless them greatly️✝️ "

Franco became an All-Star in 2023 after producing a stellar campaign in the first half of the MLB season. Soon after the 2023 Midsummer Classic, he was put on the restricted list by the Tampa Bay Rays.

As the administrative leave is only applicable during the season, he was reinstated to the 40-man roster at the end of the 2023 season, but has been serving time on the restricted list and played no games in 2024 and the current MLB campaign.

Wander Franco previously visited an old-age home in DR

In his drive to do acts of goodwill for the community, Wander Franco visited a nursing home on April 28. He spent time with the elderly people and donated necessary utilities/supplies to their nursing/old age home.

He shared highlights from the positive charity drive in a social media post, with a caption that read:

"Thank God for every chance we get to be happy to those who deserve it, we were visiting a nursing home where there are adults in need, I hope they also help those in need, 🙌🏽 "

If proven guilty and convicted of the charges against him, Franco could serve up to 20 years in prison, ending his professional baseball career. Based on the average trial period in DR, Wander's trial could take up to eight months to conclude.

About the author

Karan has been a baseball sports betting expert, analyst and content strategist at Sportskeeda since 2022. He holds a Master's degree in Sports Management from Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked with the VCU Rams baseball team as a trackman analyst. He started following the sport at 18, watching postseason on television.

Karan is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers owing to their successful history in the sport, and their consistent performances at the highest level. He admires Mookie Betts’ on-field defensive and offensive prowess, along with his off-field charitable exploits, while Bruce Bochy is his favorite coach.

The Mets’ miraculous rally from a two-run deficit in the 1986 World Series Game 6 in the bottom of the 10th inning despite being two outs and two strikes down is his all-time favorite baseball moment.

Karan’s strengths are player profiling and technical deep dives, for which he always refers to reliable sources such as the social media handles of the best MLB analysts.

When not strategizing, he likes to read, listen to music, go for a run, and watch sit-coms.

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Edited by Dipayan Moitra