The Rays are getting attention for all the wrong reasons this week after All-Star shortstop Wander Franco was put on the restricted list amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
But if you ask team brass, the rest of the Rays roster won’t let it be a distraction.
“Our 26-man active roster right now is not the one we started the season with, and that’s how it goes,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “I think over time, players learn to control the things they can control and keep their attention where it needs to be.
“And this is a group that has demonstrated resiliency. They’ve demonstrated a next-man-up mentality and have confidence that the 26 that are active are going to lock it in, be competitive and do their very best to try to chase this division down. So they’re professionals.
“It is a really good group, and confident they’re going to go out there and show that.”
Franco has been one of the best players in baseball this season, hitting .281 with 17 homers, 58 RBIs and 30 stolen bases in 112 games, in addition to solid defense at shortstop.
Even without Franco, Rays manager Kevin Cash is confident his team can keep up a regular season that has been one of the best in Tampa Bay history.
“It’s a good group — a good balance of young players that bring a lot of energy,” Cash said. “We’ve got some veterans that have really done a nice job throughout the course of the season, withstanding a long season and some of the stuff that goes into [it] … We’ve been playing pretty good baseball. Let’s see if we can continue that.”
On Tuesday, the Dominican newspaper Diario Libre reported that a second underage girl claimed to have an inappropriate relationship with Franco.
After the first allegations surfaced on social media on Sunday, Franco denied the rumors during an Instagram Live video.
“They say that I’m in public with a little girl, that I’m running around with a minor,” Franco said in the social media video in Spanish. “People don’t know what to do with their time. They don’t know what they’re talking about.
“That’s why I prefer to be on my side and not get involved with anybody.”
Franco did not travel with the team for a six-game West Coast road trip that began Monday.
Heading into play Tuesday, the Rays are 72-49, three games behind the Orioles for first place in the AL East and in the American League’s top wild-card spot.