The same day the Leones del Escogido released Wander Franco from their roster, an anonymous source inside Licey told the Dominican fan account @BandaAzulTL that key figures in the organization want to give the shortstop a shot for the 2026-27 LIDOM season. There’s a family angle too: Erick Aybar — a Licey legend with 12 MLB seasons and a career 22.8 WAR — is Franco’s maternal uncle, and according to the same source, that bond could carry real weight in any decision.
The problem is that between the rumor and an actual uniform, there’s a wall that Licey has no power to move.
Where the rumor comes from
@BandaAzulTL posted the tip in the early hours of August 30. The source has no name or known title, and Licey has issued no official statement. A photo accompanying the tweet showed Franco in Licey’s blue uniform, though there’s no way to confirm whether it’s recent or from one of his pre-suspension stints with the club.
The timing is not coincidental. On August 29, Momento Deportivo RD reported that Escogido released Franco alongside three other players as part of a roster trim ahead of the LIDOM 2026-27 draft. Franco is technically a free agent in Dominican baseball — available to any team that wants to claim him. Licey, at least internally, apparently moved quickly.
The Aybar connection and the obstacle that overrules it
Erick Aybar isn’t just a Licey name on a wall. He is the brother of Dulce Yudelka Aybar, Wander Franco’s mother, and served as the shortstop’s primary mentor from childhood in the Dominican Republic. That organizations inside Licey would weigh that relationship as a factor makes emotional sense.
What doesn’t have a simple fix is the legal context. Franco remains on MLB’s restricted list, which means he receives no payment from his 11-year, $182 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, and the league’s own investigation under the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy remains open.
That’s the wall: LIDOM operates under agreements with MLB, and while the restricted list is active, Dominican clubs cannot sign Franco under those agreements. It’s not Licey’s call to make — it’s a structural lock.
The scope of that lock became clear in July 2026, when Franco was excluded from the Dominican Republic’s extended roster for the Central American and Caribbean Games. Any organized baseball connected to MLB — any league, any tournament — remains closed to him until his MLB situation is resolved.
Where Franco stands legally
On May 25, 2026, a Puerto Plata court found Franco criminally responsible for sexual and psychological abuse against a 14-year-old girl, but granted him a judicial pardon on the grounds that the victim’s mother had extorted him. He will not serve prison time. The mother, Marta Vanesa Chevalier Almonte, was sentenced to 10 years for psychological abuse, extortion, and money laundering.
Those are two separate things: a judicial pardon is not an acquittal, and it does not erase the finding of criminal responsibility. That ruling has not moved the needle at MLB. The league’s own investigation continues, and attorneys consulted by Diario Libre in May described a return to the majors as nearly impossible, primarily due to visa barriers.
What’s actually realistic
The only real window left for Franco is Dominican baseball — but that window only opens if MLB lifts the restricted list, or if LIDOM chooses to operate outside its agreement with the league, something that has no clear precedent.
Franco hasn’t played affiliated baseball since August 12, 2023. That’s more than three years. The Licey rumor keeps the conversation alive on the island, but until MLB makes a concrete move in either direction, that’s all it is: a rumor, an anonymous source, and a blue uniform with no confirmed date.
