Wander Franco

Rays Notes: Yarbrough, Sanders, Franco

By Darragh McDonald | May 3, 2022 at 9:16am CDT

Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough is going to start tonight’s game against the Athletics, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The southpaw has yet to make his season debut, as he landed on the injured list in April with groin tightness.

On a Tampa Bay team that frequently rotates players on and off the roster, Yarbrough has been one of the more consistent members of the club. Over the four seasons beginning in 2018, he’s appeared in 107 games, throwing 499 2/3 innings with an ERA of 4.30. He doesn’t miss a ton of bats, as evidenced by his 19.5% career strikeout rate. However, he’s limited walks to a career rate of 5.2% and has also been good at limiting hard contact.

The Rays have a decent number of potential starting pitchers on the injured list right now, including Shane Baz, Tyler Glasnow, Brendan McKay and Luis Patino. The club has already resorted to a few of their patented bullpen games to get through the first month of the schedule. A healthy and effective Yarbrough could be a valuable stabilizing force for a staff that’s been heavily worked in the season’s early going.

When Yarbrough comes off the IL, he might be switching places with righty Phoenix Sanders, reports Topkin. Sanders threw an inning in last night’s game and was supposed to head back out for a second until an issue with his back arose, according to manager Kevin Cash. Sanders, who turns 27 next month, is in his first MLB season and is off to a good start. Through 10 innings on the year, he has a 1.80 ERA, with nine strikeouts and just two walks.

As for Wander Franco, he’s been dealing with some hamstring tightness that kept him out of Sunday’s game. The issue doesn’t seem to be overly serious, as he was back in the lineup on Monday. The club tried to convince him to avoid running hard when possible, which he’s found difficult. “The coaches have said that to me,” Franco tells Topkin, “but (running hard) is definitely the way I’ve played since I was a kid, and that’s the form I’m going to play.” In last night’s game, Franco spent some time on the basepaths after hitting a couple of singles. He was pinch-hit for in the ninth inning, though the Rays were already up 6-1 at the time. Signed to an 11-year extension in the offseason, Franco figures to be the face of the Rays for the next decade-plus. The hamstring issue doesn’t seem to have hurt his bat at all, as he’s currently hitting .322/.341/.575 on the season, good enough for a wRC+ of 174.

Rays Sign Wander Franco To 11-Year Extension

By Steve Adams | November 27, 2021 at 3:55pm CDT

Seventy games into his Major League career, Rays shortstop Wander Franco has agreed to an 11-year, $182MM contract extension. The contract also comes with a $25MM club option for the 2033 season (with a $2MM buyout) and a series of $3MM escalators based on MVP voting, so the deal’s maximum value sits at $223MM over 12 years. Franco is represented by agent Manny Paula.

Franco’s contract is both a franchise record for the Rays, topping Evan Longoria’s previous $100MM guarantee, and also a record for any player with less than one year of Major League service time. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s eight-year, $100MM contract had been the largest ever signed by a player with less than a year of service, but Franco will nearly double that sum with today’s precedent-shattering agreement.

In terms of financial breakdown, Franco will receive a $5MM bonus right off the bat. The shortstop will earn $1MM in 2022, $2MM in both 2023 and 2024, $8MM in 2025, $15MM in 2016, $22MM in 2027, and then $25MM in each of the 2028-32 seasons.

Franco would receive an extra $3MM in the event of a trade, but there isn’t any no-trade protection involved in the extension. There also aren’t any provisions related to the Rays’ plan to split time between Tampa and Montreal once the team’s lease at Tropicana Field is up after the 2027 season.

Franco, who won’t turn 21 until March, ranked as the sport’s No. 1 overall prospect in each of the past three offseasons and largely justified that hype when he debuted just months after his 20th birthday. The switch-hitter slashed .288/.347/.463 with seven home runs, 18 doubles, five triples and a pair of stolen bases through 308 plate appearances.

From July 25 to Sept. 29, Franco embarked on one of the more remarkable stretches in recent memory, reaching base in a staggering 43 consecutive games in spite of his youth. During that time, he posted a combined .329/.398/.545 batting line with more walks (9.1%) than strikeouts (8.1%). Franco only appeared in 70 games this season but was impressive enough to finish third in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Defensively, Franco received split marks for his work at shortstop, putting up six Defensive Runs Saved, average marks per Ultimate Zone Rating and a minus-3 mark in Statcast’s Outs Above Average. However, scouting reports on him have pegged him as at least an average shortstop — if not better — in addition to touting his elite hit tool, plus power and plus speed. That generally aligns with the .331/.399./535 slash he posted in his meteoric rise through 215 minor league games. Prior to Franco’s promotion, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote that he’d been “the best player his age on the planet since he was 14 years old” and touted him as a perennial MVP candidate. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, meanwhile, called him “plus at basically everything on a baseball field.” Take your pick of Franco scouting reports from the 2020-21 offseason and they’ll all generally be filled similar superlatives.

Because the Rays waited until late June to promote Franco, he was a veritable lock to fall shy of Super Two status under the current arbitration system (which could potentially change, depending on how collective bargaining talks play out). Franco wouldn’t have been arbitration-eligible until after the 2024 season and would’ve had to wait until the 2027-28 offseason to reach free agency. The 11-year length of the contract buys out all three of Franco’s pre-arbitration seasons — during which he’d likely have made under $1MM apiece — and all three arbitration years. He’s also surrendering control of six would-be free-agent seasons (though only five are fully guaranteed).

Some fans will recoil at the notion of guaranteeing $182MM to a player with just 70 big league games under his belt, but those 70 games largely confirmed what the industry has expected from Franco since he signed for a bonus of nearly $4MM as a 16-year-old: he looks the part of a budding superstar. And, a westward look toward San Diego shows what could happen by waiting to allow the player to further establish himself. Fernando Tatis Jr. didn’t sign an extension until he had accrued two years of Major League service, and his price tag ballooned to 14 years and $340MM. Franco’s price tag upon waiting would likely have extended even beyond that point and may well have become too sizable for the Rays’ typically frugal ownership.

It’s tempting to ponder just how much Franco might be “leaving on the table,” so to speak; free agent Carlos Correa has already pocketed $27MM in career salaries and is reportedly seeking a contract worth more than $300MM at the same age Franco would’ve been upon reaching free agency. Extension rumblings surrounding Juan Soto have elicited speculation of $400MM or even $500MM in total guaranteed money; Soto is 23 and has three-plus years of MLB service.

Franco would have found himself on a similar trajectory had he gone the year-to-year route, and one could certainly argue that betting on himself in hopes of setting an even more dramatic record was the more prudent path forward. That said, it’s difficult to fault anyone for accepting this type of guarantee — particularly at such a young age. Generations of Franco’s family will be financially secure because of it, and he can still take heart in knowing that he’s nearly doubled the previous precedent, thus further advancing the market for future players. Beyond that, because of his youth, Franco can still reach free agency as a 32-year-old, which is young enough to command a second substantial contract.

The possibility of “leaving money on the table” also assumes good health and continued production from Franco moving forward. Taking the extension now mitigates much of the risk associated with a career-altering injury or injuries — a danger that exists for any player. It also safeguards against Franco “merely” becoming a solid regular rather than a bona fide superstar (or, less likely, declining into a sub-par player). Promising as his beginnings were, he’d hardly be the first player to impress as a rookie before taking a few years to reach his ceiling or even stalling out entirely.

Ongoing labor talks also have to be considered. While the next collective bargaining agreement could have improved Franco’s earning power, it’s also feasible that a new CBA might have hurt him to an extent; ownership has already proposed an age-based free-agent threshold of 29.5 years, for instance, and although that particular number was a nonstarter for the players association (due to just this type of situation), the league could explore various permutations of such mechanisms. Regardless of how labor talks between MLB and the MLBPA play out, Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander and Franco can both rest easy knowing that perhaps the most critical negotiation either will ever personally take part in has been resolved.

Any and all instances of the Rays spending money bring about the typical comments wondering how long until the player on the receiving end of the deal is traded. Such barbs are admittedly somewhat justified due to the Rays’ history of trading players — e.g. Longoria, Blake Snell, Chris Archer — in the latter stages of their extensions. But, even if that’s Franco’s ultimate fate, it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. Extensions of this nature tend to mirror what the player would have earned absent the long-term contract; in other words, Franco may receive an up-front signing bonus, but his yearly salaries through the first six years figure are considerably lighter than they will be in the portion of his contract covering what would have been free-agent years.

In the short term, then, the Franco extension will have only minimal impact on club payroll. Tampa Bay was projected by Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez to field a payroll of around $76MM in 2021, and the Franco contract probably won’t push that mark up to even $80MM. That number still figures to drop a bit in the near future as the Rays contemplate potential trades and non-tenders related to an abnormally large arbitration class, but any trades or non-tenders of arb-eligible players in the coming days will be unrelated to Franco’s long-term pact.

At the end of the day, any contract of this magnitude involves some give and take for both sides. Any number of things could’ve gone wrong for Franco in the years to come, and the looming possibility of those pitfalls underscores the fact that the typically small-payroll Rays are taking on what is, by their standards, an unprecedented risk.

While many will be quick to declare “winners” and “losers” in Hot Stove transactions — be they trades, free-agent signings or contract extensions — there are also instances where a deal simply appears sensible for all sides. Franco receives a generational amount of money and retains the ability to reach free agency in his early 30s. The Rays secure control of a franchise cornerstone whom they hope and believe can be an all-time great. The players union surely approves of the precedent for players with under a year of service being moved forward so substantially.

Ultimately, Franco’s new contract contains positives for all parties involved — perhaps with the exception of Tampa Bay’s division rivals in the AL East who now have to wonder how to combat the emerging superstar into the 2030s.

Yancen Pujols of El Caribe reported last week that the Rays had offered a record-setting extension worth between $150-200MM. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported on Nov. 23 that an agreement was close, and he also had the year-to-year salary breakdown. Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link) and Hector Gomez of Z101 Sports (Twitter link) reported general parameters, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan eventually reported the specific terms of the contract (Twitter thread).

Rays Have Reportedly Made Record Extension Offer To Wander Franco

By Steve Adams | November 18, 2021 at 2:25pm CDT

Wander Franco’s big league career spans just 70 games and 104 days, but Yancen Pujols of El Caribe, a news outlet in Franco’s native Dominican Republic, reports that the Rays have put forth what would be a record-setting contract offer to the 20-year-old shortstop (Twitter thread). Exact terms aren’t known, but Pujols indicates that the offer is at least ten years in length and would land somewhere in the $150-200MM range. That’d go well beyond the eight-year, $100MM contract Ronald Acuna Jr. signed in Atlanta — the current record for a player with under a year of Major League service time.

The Rays are among the many teams who regularly show interest in early-career extensions. That’s largely a necessity for them to retain homegrown stars, given the payroll restrictions ownership places on the front office. That said, while Tampa Bay has had some success in this regard in the past — Brandon Lowe, Evan Longoria, Matt Moore and Chris Archer all signed team-friendly extensions with under one year of MLB service time — the reported terms here would dwarf any contract ever handed out by the franchise, regardless of service time. (Longoria’s second extension — a six-year, $100MM pact — is the current franchise record.)

It’s easy to see why the Rays are so bullish on Franco’s long-term outlook. The consensus No. 1 prospect in all of baseball for two years prior to his debut, Franco burst onto the scene at 20 years of age and slashed .288/.347/.463 with seven home runs, 18 doubles, five triples and a pair of stolen bases through 308 plate appearances. In spite of that youth, Franco looked like he belonged almost immediately — at one point reaching base in 43 consecutive games. That mind-boggling stretch, which spanned from July 25 to Sept. 29, saw Franco post a combined .329/.398/.545 batting line with more walks (9.1%) than strikeouts (8.1%). Franco went on to finish third place in AL Rookie of the Year voting despite appearing in just 70 games.

The Rays waited until late June to call Franco to the big leagues, all but ensuring that he’d avoid Super Two status under the current iteration of the arbitration system (which could change, depending on ongoing labor negotiations). As things currently stand, Franco wouldn’t even be arbitration-eligible until after the 2024 season, and he wouldn’t reach the open market until the completion of the 2027 campaign. A contract of 10-plus years in length would buy out all of Franco’s arbitration seasons and lock in at least four would-be free-agent years — plus any additional option years that could potentially be tacked on.

On the one hand, it’ll be jarring for some to consider the possibility of guaranteeing such a weighty sum to a player with such minimal big league experience. On the other, fans need only look to San Diego to see what waiting until a couple years can do to the price tag on a player of this caliber. Fernando Tatis Jr., who also debuted at age 20 with similarly excellent results, didn’t sign an extension until he had two full years of service time in the books — at which point he secured a record 14-year, $340MM contract from the Friars. It’s hard to imagine the low-payroll Rays ever doling out a guarantee of the magnitude, so it’s understandable that they’d look to act earlier in Franco’s promising career.

Even if the two sides ultimately come to terms on something in this general neighborhood, Franco would figure to be years from seeing his salary spike. He’s currently set to make under $1MM in each of the next three seasons as a pre-arbitration player, and the contract structuring would likely reflect that reality — perhaps promising him a signing bonus and some low seven-figure salaries prior to his arb years before slowly ramping into the would-be free-agent portion of his deal. That would give the Rays cost certainty in the long-term while maintaining the type of early flexibility they still stand to enjoy from MLB’s present-day salary structure.

From Franco’s side of things, it’s a rather fascinating scenario to consider. It’s unfathomable for most of us to ever turn down an overture that would guarantee $150MM or more — particularly at such a young age. Then again, looking to the current free-agent climate in MLB, Franco can see both Carlos Correa and Corey Seager vying for contracts that guarantee them $300MM or more. Talk of a potential extension for 23-year-old Juan Soto, who has three-plus years of service, has elicited suggestions of $400MM or even $500MM.

Franco’s early debut puts him on that same type of earning trajectory — assuming he can indeed live up to the considerable hype surrounding him. He’d reach six full years of service time heading into his age-27 season, the same position in which Correa finds himself now (with nearly $27MM in career salaries already banked). Six years ago, talk of contracts in the $300-400MM range might have seemed far-fetched, but that’s no longer the case. In fact, six years ago, the largest contract ever given to a player with under a year of service time was Archer’s six-year, $25.5MM deal. Suffice it to say, what players consider attainable can change quite a bit in a span of six years.

Of course, forgoing an extension structure of this magnitude could prove overwhelmingly regrettable. Any player comes with the risk of major injury, and as touted as Franco was as a prospect, whether he’ll reach that sky-high ceiling remains to be seen. If he settles in as a quality regular but something less than a superstar, this type of offer may not present itself in future years. It’s also at least possible that current CBA talks impact his earning power for the worse; ownership has already proposed an age-based free agent threshold of 29.5 years (although that was an obvious nonstarter for the MLBPA due to exactly this type of player being harmed). If nothing else, it all makes for a fascinating thought exercise.

To be clear, there’s no indication an agreement is nigh. Quite the opposite, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that nothing appears imminent at this time. Pujols, meanwhile, reports that Franco’s camp is currently studying the offer and is expected to make a counteroffer at some point.

Talk of any major contract issued by the Rays will inevitably lead to some cynical remarks about how soon the player can expect to be traded, and cliche as they may be, such jabs are also rooted in historic precedent. It’s commonplace for the Rays to trade stars away once these early-career extensions feel less like bargains (e.g. Blake Snell, Archer, Longoria), but it’s also important to note that the Rays do seem well-positioned to make such a proposal. Lowe’s contract is the only guaranteed money on the books beyond the 2022 season, and by the time the 2025 campaign rolls around, Tampa Bay doesn’t have a single guaranteed dollar on the ledger.

It could nevertheless be difficult for Tampa Bay to ever commit a hefty eight-figure salary to a player on an annual basis, but if there’s one player for whom the Rays would try to make such an arrangement work, it’s likely Franco.

Rays Place Wander Franco On 10-Day Injured List

By Anthony Franco | September 11, 2021 at 2:45pm CDT

2:45pm: Manager Kevin Cash says the timeline for Franco’s return is two-to-three weeks, per Topkin (via Twitter). That would get Franco back to the field before the end of the season.

TODAY, 10:40am: As expected, the Rays placed Franco on the 10-day injured list, recalling shortstop Taylor Walls to take his place on the roster. In addition, Randy Arozarena was reinstated from the paternity list and Josh Lowe was optioned back to Triple-A, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). Franco will have an MRI done later today to determine the extend of his hamstring strain.

SEPT. 10: Rays shortstop Wander Franco left this evening’s game against the Tigers in the first inning due to right hamstring tightness. After the game, manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) the expectation is that Franco will require a stint on the injured list.

Presumably, Franco will go for further testing to determine the extent of the injury and a projected timetable for his return. With an eight and a half game cushion in the AL East, the Rays shouldn’t have much issue weathering the loss of the star rookie for the next few weeks. But it’d obviously be disastrous news for Tampa Bay if the injury were to threaten his readiness for the start of postseason play a little less than a month from now.

The game’s consensus top prospect entering the season, Franco has demonstrated exactly why he’s so highly-regarded over his first couple months in the majors. Tampa Bay selected the switch-hitter to make his big league debut in late June. Franco started off slowly over his first couple weeks, but the 20-year-old’s recent run of play has been historic. He’s reached base safely in each of his past 39 games (including tonight’s contest, in which he singled in his only plate appearance). In MLB history, only Hall of Famer Frank Robinson has posted a longer on-base streak (43 games in 1956) at such a young age.

Altogether, Franco owns a .285/.347/.463 line (126 wRC+) over his first 271 big league plate appearances. He’s walking and hitting for power at essentially league average rates, but Franco has demonstrated excellent bat-to-ball skills. His 12.9% strikeout rate is almost ten percentage points lower than the league average, an impressive achievement for any player — let alone one as young as Franco.

The Rays do have ample infield depth to cover shortstop while Franco’s on the shelf. Fellow top prospects Vidal Bruján and Taylor Walls have logged some big league time this year and could be recalled from Triple-A Durham. Joey Wendle could also slide over from his typical third base position on occasion, with Yandy Díaz capable of manning the hot corner and Ji-Man Choi playing first base in such a scenario.

Rays Promote Wander Franco

By Anthony Franco | June 22, 2021 at 2:05pm CDT

June 22: The Rays have made it official. Franco’s contract has been selected from Triple-A Durham. He’s batting second in tonight’s lineup and playing third base in his Major League debut.

June 20: The Rays announced they’ll select the contract of top infield prospect Wander Franco prior to Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox. Tampa Bay has lost six straight, falling half a game behind Boston in the American League East. With a three-game series against the division leaders upcoming, the Rays have decided it’s time to bring up the league’s most heralded prospect.

Franco, 20, is seen by public prospect rankers as a transcendent talent. Baseball America has ranked him the game’s top prospect in each of the past two seasons, calling him an “exceptionally advanced” hitter with potential plus raw power and average defense at shortstop. In February, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Franco as the only 80-grade prospect around baseball, placing him in a tier of his own among non-MLB players. Longenhagen projects him as a top-of-the-scale hitter, raving about his bat control, pitch recognition and raw power, and calls him a possible “generational talent and annual MVP contender.” Keith Law of the Athletic praised Franco’s “ridiculous hand speed,” incredible plate discipline and above-average power projection, suggesting he should immediately be able to post a high batting average and on-base percentage and could be “an MVP candidate at his peak.”

Not only does Franco check all the boxes from a visual evaluation perspective, his minor league performance has been truly incredible. Despite being young for every level at which he’s played, Franco has compiled a .333/.400/.538 line in parts of three professional seasons. He reached Triple-A Durham for the first time in 2021 and showed no signs of slowing down. Through 173 plate appearances with the Bulls, Franco has hit .323/.376/.601 with seven homers despite being the league’s youngest player. Out of 102 qualified hitters in Triple-A East, the switch-hitting Franco ranks seventeenth in on-base percentage and seventh in slugging percentage.

As one might expect for someone who draws such praise for his hit tool, Franco has very rarely gone down on strikes in the minors. His 11.6% strikeout rate in Triple-A this season is the highest of his career, and that’s still less than half the MLB average mark of 23.4%. Over the course of his minor league career, Franco has punched out in just 7.9% of his plate appearances while walking a strong 10% of the time.

Franco is the most talented of a trio of very highly-regarded infield prospects in the Rays system (alongside Taylor Walls and Vidal Bruján). That glut of high minors talent no doubt played a role in Tampa Bay’s decision to trade shortstop Willy Adames to the Brewers for relievers J.P. Feyereisen and Drew Rasmussen last month. Walls got his first big league call in the immediate aftermath of that deal. He’s played quite well, hitting .237/.356/.355 over his first 90 MLB plate appearances while playing strong defense at shortstop.

Walls is generally regarded as a superior defender to Franco, so it remains to be seen precisely how manager Kevin Cash will deploy a talented infield mix that also includes Brandon Lowe, Joey Wendle, Yandy Díaz and Ji-Man Choi. Regardless of whether the Rays immediately install Franco as the primary shortstop or bounce him around the diamond (he’s seen some action at both second and third base in Durham this year in case he’s needed to play a multi-positional role), it’s safe to assume he’ll be in the lineup on a more-or-less everyday basis in some capacity.

Franco is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the Rays will need to make another move to formally accommodate the selection of his contract. We’re well past the point on the calendar at which a newly-promoted player can accumulate a full year of MLB service. Even if Franco sticks in the majors from here on out, the Rays will thus be able to control him through the end of the 2027 season.

He also seems highly unlikely to crack the Super Two threshold for early arbitration eligibility during the 2023-24 offseason. Franco will earn somewhere in the neighborhood of 105 days of MLB service this year if he remains on the big league roster. That’d put him at approximately 2.105 years at the end of the 2023 campaign. In recent seasons, the Super Two cutoff has come in at 2.115 years of service or above. In all likelihood, Franco won’t reach arbitration eligibility until the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Rays fans will be thrilled to get their first look at a player they no doubt hope will become the face of the franchise. Franco has as good a chance as anyone in the minors of emerging as a true superstar over the coming seasons, and the organization believes him capable of making an immediate impact in the 2021 pennant race. The game has seen an influx of fantastic young talents in recent years. By all accounts, Franco has a reasonable shot to become the next member of that group.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link) first reported Franco’s impending call-up.

AL East Notes: Wander, Odor, Arroyo, Hernandez

By Mark Polishuk and TC Zencka | May 17, 2021 at 1:23pm CDT

Wander Franco has performed well in his first 52 plate appearances at Triple-A, posting a .348/.404/.652 slash line that befits his status as baseball’s top prospect. However, it doesn’t appear likely that Franco will get a quick promotion to the big leagues, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The Rays aren’t likely to rush a 20-year-old who is only now getting his first taste of the pros beyond the A-ball level, and naturally, some payroll considerations are likely at play — delaying Franco’s debut until at least late June would probably keep him from reaching Super Two status. A pre-career contract extension would address that concern, but Topkin doesn’t see such a deal as very likely.

Beyond just the financial aspects, the Rays don’t want to make a development misstep with a prospect who represents such a major part of their future. “The team wants “to be ’more’ sure a player is ready, and avoiding the confidence crusher of sending him back. Also, they definitely want to avoid putting a young player in a role of being cast as a ’savior’ as Franco might be if the Rays offense still was struggling when he was summoned,” Topkin writes. This doesn’t mean that Tampa Bay wouldn’t turn to its farm system in the event of a sudden need, of course, but Topkin feels that Vidal Brujan or Taylor Walls (notable prospects in their own right) would get the call ahead of Franco since Brujan and Walls are both a few years older, and also already on the 40-man roster.

Rays’ Wander Franco To Open Minor League Season In Triple-A

By Steve Adams | April 29, 2021 at 10:04am CDT

Rays shortstop Wander Franco, the consensus top prospect in all of baseball, will head to Triple-A Durham when the minor league season begins next week, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).

The initial assignment doesn’t provide a concrete timeline for when Franco might be called to the big leagues, but it’s a fairly aggressive placement and one that’s worth noting, given Franco’s status within the game. He only turned 20 years old last month, and an assignment to Durham means he’ll skip the Double-A level entirely. Franco split the 2019 season between Class-A and Class-A Advanced, slashing a combined .327/.398/.487 with nine homers, 27 doubles, seven triples and 18 stolen bases in 495 plate appearances as one of the youngest players in both leagues.

From a service time standpoint, Franco is already well past the point where he could accrue a full year in 2021, meaning the Rays would control him all the way through 2027 regardless of when he’s brought to the Majors. Were he to remain in the minor leagues through late April 2022, they’d gain an extra year of control — through the 2028 campaign — but the general expectation has been that Franco could be in the big leagues this summer. Depending on when he’s called up, he could be in Super Two territory and thus be arbitration-eligible four times. Waiting until late mid or late June would likely keep him from reaching that designation.

There will inevitably be a spotlight placed on Franco and his performance in Durham, just as there will likely be vocal calls for his promotion to the Major Leagues right out of the gate. The early struggles from Tampa Bay shortstop Willy Adames, who has batted just .173/.215/.320 through his first 79 plate appearances, will only further fuel that scenario if the 25-year-old Adames is unable to right the ship.

At the same time, it’s worth remembering that Franco was only 18 years old when the 2019 season ended and that outside of 11 games in the Dominican Winter League, he hasn’t played in a professional game since. The Rays are surely hopeful that when Franco is called to the Majors, he’s ready for the challenge and needn’t ever be sent back to the minors for further development. The fact that he’s bypassing Double-A and going straight to the club’s top affiliate seems like a vote of confidence that he’s on the cusp of such readiness, but he’ll get some vital development time against the most advanced pitching he’s ever faced for the time being.

Rays Reassign Wander Franco To Minor League Camp

By TC Zencka | March 15, 2021 at 9:15am CDT

The Rays officially started working out Wander Franco at third base yesterday, though manager Kevin Cash insists it’s no more a reaction to the Ji-Man Choi injury than it is a sign that Franco needs to (or will) make the move, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Yandy Diaz and Yoshi Tsutsugo could move from third to first most days while Choi is out, and Joey Wendle will be the third baseman in that case with Mike Brosseau reprising his role from the postseason to take on southpaws.

Lest there be any doubt, the Rays reassigned their top prospect to minor league camp today, per Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com (via Twitter). It appears as if Franco will start the season at Triple-A. Franco was never really expected to be on the opening day roster, despite his enormous potential. He just turned 20 years old on March 1st, and he has yet to appear in a pro game above High-A. Though the minor league seasons won’t start on time, Franco will still be able to work out and train with those in the organization.

In regards to a potential move to third base, that decision will be kicked down the line for now. Whether or not Franco’s best-case future is at short or elsewhere on the infield is one question, but there’s also the Willy Adames issue which will continue to inform the Rays in their decision-making process. Whereas Franco’s bat should have no trouble playing at third, Adames brings the most value with his glove at short, especially if the 25-year-old continues to improve his glovework. Adames, however, will go through arbitration for the first time before next season, and the Rays aren’t shy about flipping talent well before their sell-by date.

Rays Notes: Franco, Snell, Faria

By Mark Polishuk | December 5, 2020 at 5:20pm CDT

Tests on Wander Franco’s biceps and shoulder area didn’t reveal any structural damage, the Rays told reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio). The star prospect was brought back to the United States from the Dominican Winter League due to soreness and inflammation, though all signs point to Franco being ready to roll for Spring Training. As a precaution, Franco won’t play in any more DWL games.

Widely regarded as the sport’s top prospect, Franco doesn’t turn 20 years old until March and hasn’t played any organized minor league ball above the high-A level. That said, Rays evaluators did get a first-hand look at Franco at the club’s alternate training site during the season, and it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Franco make his Major League debut before 2021 is through.

AL East Notes: Rays, Franco, Red Sox, Benintendi, Cora, Pedroia

By TC Zencka | November 26, 2020 at 9:29am CDT

Rays top prospect Wander Franco is on his way back to the United States for precautionary tests on the bicep injury that forced him out of the lineup in the Winter League, according to John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The Dominican League reported news of Franco’s discomfort last week, but it seemed like a minor injury at the time. Coming back stateside certainly adds a note of concern, but that’s still not much to go on. For the time being, it’s safe to presume the best. While we await further updates, let’s check in on the Rays division rival…

There’s some concern that Andrew Benintendi won’t be able to regain the form that made him a top prospect before his debut in 2016, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Boston’s left fielder slashed .290/.366/.465, good for 4.5 bWAR as a 23-year-old in 2018. He’s backslid since then, culminating in an injury-marred 2020. More than the .103/.314/.128 line he posted in just 14 games this season, the concern is that Benintendi no longer registers the sprint speed he booked early in his career. Speier provides some disquieting quotes from talent evaluators who don’t see Benintendi developing into the star many expected. There’s not much chance of Boston exploring a trade with his value at an all-time low. For now, the 26-year-old should have plenty of leash to build back his value in 2021.
Before he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox, Alex Cora mentored Dustin Pedroia in the early stages of the second baseman’s career. Now, as that career appears to be nearing an end, Cora is again nearby to lend an ear, writes Chris Cotillo of Masslive.com. Cora won’t reveal anything about Pedroia’s plans for the future, but he did speak glowingly about the impact he has continued to have on the team, even if he hasn’t been healthy enough to contribute on the diamond. It’s largely expected that Pedroia will announce his retirement before the 2021 season, but nothing has been made official.

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