Venezuelan major leaguers find ways to send money and supplies to family and friends back home, sometimes using people traveling there to transport items. Still, traveling can be fraught. Even Venezuelan citizens have encountered complications entering and leaving the country. Kidnappings, too, remain a threat.

Ramos was seized at gunpoint at his family’s home in Valencia in November 2011 and was then freed about 50 hours later by the police. He returned to Venezuela in subsequent off-seasons to see relatives and play winter ball, but memories of the episode were still vivid. After his wife, Yely, had their first child in 2014, Ramos decided the United States would be a safer place to raise a family and a better place to train in the off-season.

Ramos bought a house in Davie, Fla., near the end of the 2015 season. With the help of his team at the time, the Nationals, and an immigration lawyer, Ramos secured permanent residency for himself and his wife and tourist visas for members of his family and his wife’s family.

Ramos, who signed with the Rays this winter, said he wanted to move more family members permanently to the United States, adding that “bringing everyone would be really hard.”

Ramos still makes short visits to his family in Venezuela. He said his family had security guards, as he did when he returned for longer stays. It was necessary, Ramos said, but it made him feel as if he was not free in his own country.