ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Colorado Rockies Wednesday, fans continue to grapple with the fallout over one of the team’s star players.
Rays shortstop Wander Franco was placed on administrative leave, facing an uncertain future amid investigations into allegations of inappropriate behavior with a minor.
"Whether that the social media posts were true or false, I just hope they figure out what happened,” said Jay Scott, a Rays fan.
Major League Baseball released a statement Tuesday noting Franco has been placed on administrative leave until further notice as it continues its ongoing investigation.
The Rays said they support the decision, adding that they appreciate the understanding and patience of their fans and supporters as this process unfolds.
Their full statement is below.
We support Major League Baseball’s decision to place Wander Franco on Administration Leave.
The Tampa Bay Rays are dedicated to upholding high standards of integrity both on and off the field. We appreciate the understanding and patience of our fans and supporters as this process unfolds.
We will have no further statements on this matter until MLB completes its process.
"I would hate to say somebody's guilty until you see the evidence,” said Mark Ferguson. “So we're all pulling for Wander to be back on the team sometime this year, if not this year, next year, but we really can't judge anybody until we have all the facts."
Ferguson is the president of Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill in St. Pete, just steps from Tropicana Field.
"We had a sign on the back wall that the Rays put up. They took it down yesterday,” said Ferguson. “They said we just had too many phone calls. That’s why we took it down. They said hopefully, we can put it back up in a month.”
ABC Action News was at the Trop on Tuesday and noticed banners of Franco were replaced with banners of other players. While walking through the team store at the Trop Wednesday, we didn’t see any Franco merchandise there either.
The Rays haven’t responded to questions about signage or gear.
For now, fans are taking it all one game at a time.
"I just hope it gets resolved. It's hanging over the team,” said Scott. “It's like a cloud, and we need to get past it and move on to the postseason."
