Who is Wander Franco’s wife? All about his family, as the baseball star gets admitted to a mental health clinic two years after allegations

Dominican pro baseball shortstop Wander Franco, whose nickname is El Patron, was detained by authorities in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on September 9, 2025, and was admitted into a private clinic in his hometown, Bani, for mental health issues, ESPN reported.

A law enforcement spokesperson named Colonel Diego Pesqueira told the Associated Press that Franco’s family members requested to admit him to the rehab facility. However, Pesqueira confirmed it wasn’t related to the Tampa Bay Rays’ athlete’s ongoing legal issues.

Wander Franco, 24, is married to his childhood sweetheart, Rachelly Paulino, 24.

He was convicted of s*xually abusing a minor in June of this year and placed under a two-year suspended prison sentence. In July 2023, El Patron was first accused of having an improper relationship with a teenage girl. A year later, he was arrested and charged with s*xual abuse and exploitation of an underage girl.

In the wake of his legal troubles, the MLB player remains suspended by the Tampa Bay Rays. He has a $182 million contract signed in November 2021 for a period of 11 years, according to The Daily Mail. However, Franco hasn’t played since August 2023.

All you need to know about Wander Franco’s personal life

Wander Franco, whose full name is Wander Samuel Franco Aybar, was born in March 2001 in Bani, Dominican Republic. His father, Wander Franco Sr., was a former minor league player. His mother, Nancy Aybar, is the sister of former MLB players Erick and Willy Aybar.

The 2023 All-Star recipient has two older brothers, Wander Alexander Franco and Wander Javier Franco, who played for the MLB teams Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants, respectively.

Wander Franco married his longtime girlfriend, Rachelly Paulino, in 2021 after that year’s MLB season. The couple has two sons: Wander Samuel Franco Jr., born in 2018, and another, born in 2022, whose name has not been disclosed. According to the Daily Mail, the couple has been together since their teens. Paulino and Franco bought a five-bedroom home in Tampa, Florida, for $1.55 million in May 2023. The outlet also reported that Wander Franco and his wife both come from Bani, a city 65 miles from Santo Domingo on the country’s south coast.

On September 10, 2016, Franco’s mother, Nancy Aybar, wished Paulino a happy 15th birthday on Facebook and called her her “daughter-in-law,” according to Daily Mail reports.

Exploring Wander Franco’s legal troubles

Wander Franco has had several run-ins with the law since 2023. In July of that year, an underage girl took to social media and claimed she was in an inappropriate relationship with the MLB star, according to the Daily Mail. That same month, another minor girl, age 17, filed a similar complaint with the Attorney General’s Office in Santo Domingo.

Around the time, Wander Franco shared in an Instagram livestream, denying the accusations.

“They’re saying I got with a young girl, that I’m running around with a minor out there. How crazy is that, dude? People don’t know what to do with their time. These people need to get moving,” he stated in Spanish.

El Patron continued, “One is here focused, doing my thing, you see, thanks to God. That’s why I prefer to be on my side and not get involved with anybody because people are so gossipy.”

His Rays teammate Jose Siri then walked into the stream and claimed, “People after money.”

A year later, Wander was arrested after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a 14-year-old girl and paying thousands of dollars to her mother to buy her consent.

Six months later, the Tampa Bay Rays put him on a restricted list for failing to report to the team despite being on paid administrative leave. Meanwhile, in November, he was again taken into custody during an altercation, allegedly over a woman’s attention.

This year, in June, the father of two was found guilty of s*xual misconduct against a minor. His case from last November, of stalking a woman and illegally carrying a semiautomatic firearm, is still pending in court, as per Daily Mail reports.

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Franco’s MLB career remains uncertain. However, he is reportedly still training.

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