Diversity in MLB continues to improve

Major League Baseball's efforts to create long-term change by increasing diversity in the sport continue to show results, from the grass roots to the executive offices.
On Jackie Robinson Day, it's worth noting that there were 238 players born outside the United States on Opening Day rosters this season. That 27.5-percent rate is the highest figure since 2013, when it was 28.2 percent.
This year's players from outside the U.S. represent a record-tying 18 countries and territories.
There are signs that these trends will continue. Numbers crunched by MLB show that the percentage of African-American players are getting younger, that the 2015 Draft showed a significant uptick in the number of minorities selected and that there were increases in diversity among the top Minor League prospects lists released earlier this year.
On the active Opening Day rosters this season, the percentage of black, African-American or African-Canadian players held steady at 8.27. More encouraging is that 69 percent of those players are 30 or younger, a four-percent increase from 2015.
If players on disabled lists are included, the percentage of black players has increased.
The percentage of American-born African-American Major Leaguers on active rosters is 11 percent, which is in line with the U.S. national average population, which is 12 percent. In other words, the demographics of MLB reflect America.
According to Mark Armour of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), the highest percentage of African-Americans playing in the Majors was 19 percent in 1986. According to Armour, the previously reported peak of 27 percent in the mid-1970s was mischaracterized because it included dark-skinned players from Latin American countries. Combining the percentage of black players (8.27) and foreign-born players (27.5), the game is reaching unprecedented levels of diversity (35.8).
Among MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects, 18 percent of the players listed are African-American and 29 percent are Latino/Hispanic. That's similar to the lists by Baseball America, Scouts.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.com's Keith Law. Two of MLBPipeline.com's preseason top 10 were African-American (No. 2 Byron Buxton and No. 4 J.P. Crawford) and three of the Top 50 (Crawford, Dominic Smith and Dillon Tate) were alumni of the Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif.
The first round of last year's Draft included the selection of nine African-American players (of 36 overall picks, or 25 percent). On a percentage basis, that represented the most African-American players taken in a first round since 1992 and eclipsed the recent high of 22.6 percent (7 of 31) in 2012.
Progress is also being made in key decision-making positions. MLB executives include Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork in baseball operations; Steve Gonzalez, Tyrone Brooks and Renee Tirado in human resources and talent pipeline; Tony Reagins, David James, Del Matthews and Darrell Miller in youth programs and development; and Wendy Lewis, Billy Bean, Curtis Pride, Corey Smith and William Rolack in diversity, inclusion and strategic alliances.
MLB hired Korn Ferry last year to provide a number of support services for qualified candidates, with a special emphasis on minority and women, to assist in their interview preparations for key baseball-operations positions.
The MLB Equal Employment Opportunity policy was established in 1999. Predating the NFL's "Rooney Rule" by three years, it mandated that minority candidates be included in consideration for all general manager, manager and scouting-director openings. There is also a Commissioner's Diversity and Inclusion Committee to oversee accountability and implementation for the industry.
Youth programs have long been a cornerstone of baseball's efforts to expose young people in general, and minorities who might not otherwise have access to instruction in particular, to baseball.
A wide array of initiatives is in place including PLAY BALL, the Elite Development Invitational, the Breakthrough Series, Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), Urban Youth Academies and the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, a joint venture with the MLB Players Association.
According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, total baseball participation is up 4.3 percent, with casual participation increasing by 11.8 percent.
MLB has also held several Diversity Business Summits designed to cultivate new and existing partnerships with minority- and female-owned businesses. Since the program was created, MLB has spent more than $1 billion with diverse businesses.