{"id":707508,"date":"2026-06-01T09:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/707508\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T09:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T09:32:16","slug":"adrian-beltre-believes-wander-franco-deserves-second-chance-at-mlb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/707508\/","title":{"rendered":"Adri\u00e1n Beltr\u00e9 Believes Wander Franco Deserves Second Chance At MLB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                          Adri\u00e1n Beltr\u00e9<br \/>\n                          Wander Franco Deserves A Second Chance In MLB<br \/>\n                          &#8230; But Not Sure He&#8217;ll Get It<\/p>\n<p>\n                                                                        Published<br \/>\n                              June 1, 2026<br \/>\n                            12:30 AM PDT\n                                                                            <\/p>\n<p>            Play video content<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/72c88ba49ce849cd97eec5d18a6fe023_md.jpg\" alt=\"adrian-beltre-kal-05-28-2026\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/wander-franco\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wander Franco<\/a> caught a big break in court this week, avoiding prison &#8230; but that doesn&#8217;t mean he&#8217;ll ever walk on an MLB diamond again, despite having the staunch support of many players, including Hall of Famer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/adrian-beltre\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Adri\u00e1n Beltr\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/sports\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TMZ Sports<\/a> ran into the 4x All-Star and 5x Gold Glove Award winner at LAX this week, when we asked him about his fellow Dominican star, and whether he deserved another crack at playing in the Big Leagues.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260527_aaf94e31eb014b0d874f43e1c364ab95\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:c59b457a-d697-4faa-9876-c179eb7b5eaf\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/aaf94e31eb014b0d874f43e1c364ab95_md.jpg\" alt=\"sub-wander-franco-getty-1\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a sensitive situation, but I think, I believe that everybody has a second chance,&#8221; Beltr\u00e9 told us.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"continued\" class=\"continued-anchor\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A three-judge panel in a Puerto Plata court found the 25-year-old Tampa Bay Rays star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/05\/25\/wander-franco-found-criminally-responsible-in-minor-abuse-case\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">criminally responsible<\/a> for the sexual and psychological abuse of a 14-year-old girl, but was also deemed to be a victim of extortion at the hands of the minor&#8217;s mom, who was accused of trafficking her own child.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20241111_2edd391c62a24cc183ada3689ab1ae18\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:c59b457a-d697-4faa-9876-c179eb7b5eaf\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2edd391c62a24cc183ada3689ab1ae18_md.jpg\" alt=\"Wander Franco getty 3\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The judges ruled Wander wouldn&#8217;t serve any prison time, meaning he could theoretically return to baseball for the first time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2023\/08\/22\/wander-franco-placed-administrative-leave-amid-investigation-relationship-minors\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">since August 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But, there&#8217;s a potential hurdle &#8230; and it&#8217;s a big one.<\/p>\n<p>Major League Baseball has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2023\/08\/14\/mlb-investigating-rays-wander-franco-allegations-improper-relationship-minor\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">investigating<\/a> the situation with Franco for years and has not yet released its findings.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260508_1d4b78ee7c144e1a9ee6efdc6c4f239c\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:c59b457a-d697-4faa-9876-c179eb7b5eaf\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1d4b78ee7c144e1a9ee6efdc6c4f239c_md.jpg\" alt=\"trevor bauer getty 2\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The league, at times, has hit players with lengthy suspensions, including when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/trevor-bauer\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trevor Bauer<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2022\/12\/22\/trevor-bauer-suspension-reduced-reinstated-immediately-mlb\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">suspended<\/a> for 324 games. The Cy Young pitcher &#8212; who was never charged with a crime &#8212; had the penalty reduced to 130 games.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[MLB is] really strict about these things,&#8221; Adri\u00e1n said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just a sensitive situation. I don&#8217;t really know enough about it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20240710_a076d8ff2d0345e0979e67c54933d6f9\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:c59b457a-d697-4faa-9876-c179eb7b5eaf\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a076d8ff2d0345e0979e67c54933d6f9_md.jpg\" alt=\"wander franco sub\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Wander was once the top prospect in all of baseball and is still only in his mid-20s &#8230; and he could theoretically return, assuming a team was willing to sign him.<\/p>\n<p>            Play video content<\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7b2f5f9aad284c8897c23c995bf20c71_md.png\" alt=\"052726 pedro martinez kal\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Beltr\u00e9 isn&#8217;t the only one offering support. Fellow Hall of Famer, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/pedro-martinez\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pedro Mart\u00ednez<\/a>, also told us he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/05\/27\/pedro-martinez-wants-wander-franco-play-baseball\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hopes<\/a> Wander gets another opportunity to play in the MLB.<\/p>\n<p>For the time being, Franco is on the league&#8217;s Restricted List, meaning he cannot play. MLB could announce the findings of its investigation at any point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adri\u00e1n Beltr\u00e9 Wander Franco Deserves A Second Chance In MLB &#8230; But Not Sure He&#8217;ll Get It Published&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,44,82,865,866],"class_list":["post-707508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-tmz-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}