Wire Taps: Statement From Washington Nationals/MLB On Nats' Catcher Wilson Ramos' Kidnapping In Venezuela.

• Latest Update at 12:45 pm EST. The Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball just sent out the following message: 

"Joint Statement from Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals:

"Our foremost concern is with Wilson Ramos and his family and our thoughts are with them at this time. Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations is working with the appropriate authorities on this matter. Both Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals have been instructed to make no further comment. "

• When the good news of the morning is a follow-up by the reporter who originally broke the story of Wilson Ramos' kidnapping which reads, "Venezuela's intelligence police confirmed minutes ago that Wilson Ramos is alive," you know it's been a long night in the nation's capital since the first reports that the 24-year-old Nats' catcher had been taken from his home at gunpoint and forced into a green or orange truck or SUV depending on which report you read.

"Policia de Inteligencia venezolana confirma hace minutos que Wilson Ramos se encuentra con vida," Rafael Rojas C (@RafaelRojasC) wrote on Twitter within the last few minutes. Rafael Rojas C is a baseball beat writer following the Rockies at Viva Colorado who is currently in Venezuela covering the Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional. There are few new details since the story first broke last night...

This morning, at around 10:30 am EST, there was a report on Twitter from Kathe Vilera (@KatheVilera), the spokesperson for Ramos' team in Venezuela, the Tigres de Aragua, which read, "Encontraron la camioneta donde secuestraron a Wilson Ramos en Bejuma. Solo eso, no han contactado a la familia y no ha pasado mas nada!" Rough translation, "They found the van used to kidnapped Wilson Ramos in Bejuma. Only that, they have not contacted the family and has not gone over anything!" 

The Venezuelan Minister of Interior Justice addressed the situation this morning as well, as Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore had reported just 15 minutes before the report from Ramos' team in an article at the Post's Nationals Journal entitled, "Still no word from Wilson Ramos’s kidnappers; family friend urges calm":

"Venezuelan Minister of Interior Justice Tareck El Aissami said police found the vehicle used to kidnap Wilson Ramos in Bejuma, a town an hour away from Valencia, where four gunmen abducted Ramos on Wednesday night, according to a report by Venezuelan TV station Globovision."

The latest report from VivaColorado.com Rafael Rojas C. is that, "Elite squads from VZ police are in Valencia working on Ramos case, says VZ police." In an interview on MLB Network Radio this morning, Patrick Duddy, the former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela spoke about Ramos' situation with Kevin Kennedy and Jeff Joyce. "First of all," Ambassador Duddy said, "It is a very serious problem. I certainly know people who've had kidnappings happen to family members down there. The other point that I would make just for your audience is that Wilson Ramos is not an American citizen so it is unlikely that American officials would be directly involved in this." 

"I'm not sure yet how different this case will be," Ambassador Duddy continued, "But clearly kidnapping a prominent big league baseball player is, I would suggest, not something that would seem to have any kind of political dimension, so this would appear to be from what the local newspapers have reported, just what you yourselves have reported, a kidnapping apparently for ransom." 

We'll have more information when it is available. 

• Our Original Report: 

• 10: 22 pm EST: via the President of Wilson Ramos' team in Venezuela, Rafael Rodriguez R. on Twitter (@OficialRRR) from Ramos' home, "... hopefully everything goes well. Prudence and moderation is important ... In God's name ...

8:15 pm EST: There isn't much information at the moment, but reports out of Venezuela tonight say that Washington Nationals' catcher Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped, taken away by four armed assailants who have not yet contacted the family or police to made any demands. The first reports tonight came from a baseball writer, Rafael Rojas, @rafaelrojasc who writes about the Colorado Rockies for Viva Colorado, a bilingual paper out of Colorado. Mr. Rojas reported on Twitter within the last hour, that, "#Nationals C Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped at his home in Maracay, Venezuela. Situation developing."

It has since been confirmed by the Tigres de Aragua on Twitter (@oficialTigres) where they wrote, "Unfortunately the news of the [kidnapping/hijacking] was confirmed. Wilson Ramos, allegedly the same thing happened at his home in Valencia." That's the googletranslate version. (ed. note - "A reader in the comments section provided the following translation, "Unfortunately the reports of Wilson Ramos’ kidnapping are confirmed. Allegedly he was taken from his house in Valencia.")

Since then there have been several reports published in Spanish language newspapers. This much is known at the moment. According to this report in El Nacional by Ismael G. Granadillo N. and Alexander Mendoza, Ramos, 24, was approached near his home in Valencia, Venezuela by four gunmen who took him away, "'They are still waiting for the kidnappers contact the family,'" the paper's source says, "'At the moment the only thing they have done is to inform the police.'"

When there is more information available, we'll add it here. 

WTOP's Craig Heist (@CHeistWTOP) just reported via Twitter that D.C. GM Mike Rizzo said simply, "'We will have something to say when there is something to say.'"

Waiting for more info...

• AP REPORT via NewsInc.com: