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Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped in his home country of Venezula, according to a report by Rafael Rojas of VivaColorado.com, The Denver Post's bi-lingual website. There is not much information currently available, but according the report, Ramos was kidnapped from his home in Maracay, Venezuela. Venezuela is known for having issues with kidnappings for money. Ramos had just earned a league-minimum $414,500 contract, which is a lot of money in his home country of Venezuela.
The news was confirmed by the Tigres de Aragua, Ramos' winter baseball club.
@Oficialtigres
Tigres de Aragua Lamentablemente la noticia del secuestro de Wilson Ramos fué confirmada, presuntamente el mismo ocurrió en su casa en Valencia...
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Translated, that means: "Unfortunately the news of the hijacking was confirmed Wilson Ramos, allegedly the same thing happened at his home in Valencia ..."
Ramos had just finished his rookie season in the Majors with the Washington Nationals, hitting for .265 in 435 plate appearances with 15 home runs. He is expected to be the starting catcher for the Nats in 2012, after taking over for Ivan Rodriguez early in the 2011 season.
We will have more on the story as it develops.
For more on Wilson Ramos and the Washington Nationals, visit SB Nation's Nationals blog Federal Baseball.