Five years after he was kidnapped in his native Venezuela, Wilson Ramos, a catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, finally secured the paperwork necessary for his family to live with him in the United States. Carlos Carrasco, a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians who was born in Venezuela, passed his United States citizenship test in August and has not returned to his birthplace for years.
Carlos Gonzalez, an outfielder for the Colorado Rockies, felt uneasy visiting his family and friends in Venezuela before the 2016 season, after an absence of three years, because for the first time he needed an armed security guard.