By: Matt Rappa, managing editor 
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco is taking the league by storm with eye-catching defensive plays in the field and his powerful offensive bat, which has produced a .291/.333/.519 slash with five home runs and 14 runs-batted-in through the club's first 21 games of the season.
Most rising, young stars in Major League Baseball are often pressed to perform well in order to receive a big pay day when they have contractual leverage for the first time in arbitration after three years of service.
In December, Franco filed a grievance with Major League Baseball, claiming that his service time was manipulated to delay future free agency opportunities.
While implications of the grievance have yet to be resolved, other than MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark commenting that the situation is "unfortunate," four months later Franco has found another opportunity to pick up quick earnings through Fantex, the world's first registered trading platform for stock "linked to the value and performance of a professional athlete brand."
According to ESPN Business Correspondent Darren Rovell, the San Francisco, California-based company agreed to purchase a $30 million-plus stake in Franco and nine other athletes on Wednesday, each of whom in turn would give the company a percentage of their future earnings.
Player stock market exchange, @fantex, agrees to buy a $30M+ stake in 10 athletes, gives them % of future earnings pic.twitter.com/YOPVjCHhoD
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 27, 2016
In signing Franco for a one-time purchase price of $4.35 million, the third baseman is now contractually obligated to give Fantex 10 percent of all his future earnings, "on and off the field, in perpetuity," according to Fortune.
Fantex must then sell enough shares in the IPO to make the amount it needs to pay the athlete. If it fails to sell enough, it will not complete the offering. The pay check it offers each athlete varies: Chicago Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery, still the biggest name Fantex has debuted, got $7.94 million, while Davis got $4 million.
Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes:
"Essentially, Franco is taking a payday before he is eligible for salary arbitration and free agency in exchange for a potential windfall in the future. It is possible that the deal could affect the way Franco approaches future contract talks.
In other words, if Franco already has $4.35 million in earnings, he might be less apt to take a contract extension that would guarantee security but could limit his earnings potential if he becomes a star."
Franco told Zolecki that signing with Fantex "feels great."
"I'm able to play baseball in a calmer way now," he said. "I'm more relaxed now when I take the field because it brings stability."
A more relaxed Franco means good news for the Phillies, who enter Thursday's series finale against the Washington Nationals one game above the .500 mark at 11-10 on the season.
The first athlete to be linked with Fantex, which was founded in 2012 and launched a year later, was San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis on April 28, 2014, for $4 million.
