Who Is Wander Franco?
Wander Samuel Franco Sr., nicknamed “El Patron,” is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. He was born on March 1, 1980. (MLB). In the year 2021, he made his MLB debut.
In the 2017 international class, Franco was rated as one of the top international prospects. On July 2, 2017, he joined the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Franco debuted professionally with the Princeton Rays in 2018. Franco struck for the cycle while playing for Princeton on July 14, 2018.
Franco was labeled the 2018 Appalachian League Player of the Year at the age of 17 after hitting.374/.445/.636 with 11 home runs and 57 RBIs in 245 plate appearances for the Princeton Rays. Franco was listed as the fourth-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America before the 2019 season.
He started the season with the Bowling Green Hot Rods in Bowling Green, Kentucky. On June 25, he was promoted to the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Franco has been nominated to the All-Star Futures Game for 2019. With nine home runs and 53 RBIs, he concluded the 2019 season with a.327/.398/.487 slash line.
How did Rays get Wander Franco?
Franco was invited to major-level spring training in 2021 by the Rays, but he was not selected, and he commenced the season with the Durham Bulls in Triple-A.
Franco, 20, and his family now have financial security, and Tampa Bay has a long-term contract with homegrown rising talent. Franco was introduced by the Rays just two days after signing a contract worth up to $223 million if the club option is exercised and incentives are met.
Franco and the Rays agreed to a $182 million, eleven-year contract deal on November 23, 2021, with a $25 million club option for a twelfth year.
Franco surpassed Ronald Acua Jr.’s eight-year, $100 million deal extension announced in 2019 as the youngest player in baseball history to earn a contract worth at least $100 million at the age of 20. Franco’s contract was the most lucrative for a player with less than a year in the majors.
