More than one quarter of players born outside US
DR most common for foreign born, Brewers lead all teams with 14 non-US players
Fresh off the World Baseball Classic and Major League Baseball's continued emphasis on expanding its international influence, the league announced Monday that more than a quarter of its current players were born outside the United States.
Of the 856 players on Opening Day rosters or inactive lists, 241 were born outside the 50 states, a 28.2 percentage that ranks as the fourth highest of all time. That group spans 15 countries and territories, but the Dominican Republic once again leads the Majors -- as it has every year since the league began releasing this data in 1995 -- with 89 players, the fourth most the nation has had on Opening Day rosters.
This year's totals rank behind only 2005 (29.2 percent), 2007 (29 percent) and last season (28.4 percent). Last year, 243 of 856 players were born outside of the United States.
Venezuela ranks second with 63 Major Leaguers, the country's second-highest total ever. Next up is Canada, with 17 players on Major League rosters, followed by Cuba, with 15, its highest total since at least 1995.
After that comes Mexico (14), Puerto Rico (13), Japan (11), Colombia and Panama (four each), Curacao (three), Australia, Nicaragua and South Korea (two each) and the Netherlands and Taiwan (one apiece).
The Brewers lead the Majors with 14 foreign-born players from seven countries and territories: Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The Rangers have the second most, with 13, while the Rockies, Tigers and Giants each have 12 players born outside the United States. The Blue Jays' Opening Day roster featured seven Dominican players, the most from one nation outside of the U.S.
The data takes into account the 856 players on Major League active 25-man rosters (750) and disabled or restricted lists (106) as of March 31.