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By Robert Read
Life & Trends Reporter
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The Tampa Bay Rays and All-Star shortstop Wander Franco have mutually agreed that he will go on the restricted list and take leave from the team, the Rays announced Monday.
Franco's leave comes amid a Major League Baseball (MLB) investigation into viral posts from Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, which claimed the 22-year-old has been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a minor. The Rays said Franco will be away from the team for the duration of its current road trip, which runs through August 20.
MLB started looking into posts concerning Franco on Sunday night and by Monday had launched an investigation into the matter, the Rays said.
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"We support any steps taken by the league to better understand the situation," a statement from the team released Monday said. "Out of respect for all parties involved, we have no further comments at this time."
Franco was not in the lineup on Sunday when posts related to the situation started trending.
Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters that Franco's absence was just a day off. Franco had started the previous 20 games for the Rays. Cash told reporters in his postgame press conference that he was aware of the posts related to Franco but was not going to speculate.
"But the day off was because [of] the day off," Cash said.
According to multiple reports, Franco did not travel with the team for its three-game series in San Francisco against the Giants, which begins on Monday.
The restricted list is generally used to take a player off the team's roster without pay. Teams use the list in a variety of cases, including legal matters.
Franco signed an 11-year, $183 million contract extension with the Rays last year that could be worth up to $223 million. The contract is the largest in franchise history. The first-time All-Star is slashing .281/.344/.475 with 17 home runs in 112 games this season. Franco, who is in his third MLB season, was benched for two games in June for the way he handled his frustrations, the team said, including not running out ground balls and throwing his equipment in the dugout.
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