2014 Opening Day Rosters Feature 224 Players Born Outside the U.S.
26.3 Percent of Players Born Outside the U.S., Spanning 16 Countries and Territories
Two-hundred twenty-four players on 2014 Opening Day 25-man rosters and inactive lists were born outside the 50 United States, Major League Baseball announced today.
The 224 players born outside the U.S. (26.3 percent) come from the pool of 853 players (750 active 25-man roster players and 103 disabled or restricted Major League players) on March 30th rosters and represent 16 countries and territories outside the U.S., the highest total since 16 countries were also
represented in 2008.
As it has each year since MLB began releasing this annual data in 1995, the Dominican Republic again leads the Major Leagues with 83 players born outside the United States. Venezuela ranks second with 59 players, marking its fourth-highest total of all-time. Cuba places third with 19 players, setting a new all-time high and surpassing last year's record-high of 15. Rounding out the totals are Puerto Rico (11); Canada (10); Japan (9), Mexico (9); Curaçao (5, surpassing its previous high of four set in 2009 and 2012); Colombia (4, matching its previous high set last year); Panama (4); Nicaragua (3, matching its previous high set in 2012); Australia (2); South Korea (2); Taiwan (2); Aruba (1); and Brazil (1). Boston Red Sox infielder Xander Bogaerts is the first player from Aruba to make an Opening Day roster since Sidney Ponson of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007. Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes, who became the first Brazilian-born player in Major League history in 2012, now becomes the first Brazilian to
make an Opening Day roster.
The Texas Rangers have the most foreign-born players with a total of 15 on a roster that spans a Major Leaguerecord nine different countries and territories - Canada, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Venezuela. The previous individual team-high on record of eight different countries and territories represented on Opening Day had been accomplished seven times. The San Francisco Giants have the next highest at 13, followed by the Chicago White Sox (11), Seattle Mariners (11), Chicago Cubs (10) and Milwaukee Brewers (10).
The Giants have the most players from one nation outside the U.S. with eight Venezuelan players. The Cubs have seven Dominican players, while the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays have six Dominican players apiece.
Please see below for the complete list of foreign-born players on 2014 Opening Day rosters.
ARUBA (1) Bogaerts, Xander, BOS AUSTRALIA (2) Balfour, Grant, TB Rowland-Smith, Ryan, ARI BRAZIL (1) Gomes, Yan, CLE CANADA (10) Adduci, James, TEX Axford, John, CLE Crain, Jesse, HOU Henderson, Jim, MIL Lawrie, Brett, TOR Martin, Russell, PIT Morneau, Justin, COL Paxton, James, SEA Saunders, Michael, SEA Votto, Joey, CIN COLOMBIA (4) Frieri, Ernesto, LAA Quintana, Jose, CWS Solano, Donovan, MIA Teheran, Julio, ATL CUBA (19) Abreu, Jose, CWS Alonso, Yonder, SD Bueno, Francisco, KC Cespedes, Yoenis, OAK Chapman, Aroldis, CIN Elias, Roenis, SEA Escobar, Yunel, TB Fernandez, Jose, MIA Garcia, Onelki, LAD Gonzalez, Miguel, PHI Grandal, Yasmani, SD Hechavarria, Adeiny, MIA Iglesias, Jose, DET Martin, Leonys, TEX Nieto, Adrian, CWS Pena, Brayan, CIN Puig, Yasiel, LAD Ramirez, Alexei, CWS Viciedo, Dayan, CWS CURAÇAO (5) Bernadina, Roger, CIN Jansen, Kenley, LAD Profar, Jurickson, TEX Schoop, Jonathan, BAL Simmons, Andrelton, ATL DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (83) Abad, Fernando, OAK Alburquerque, Al, DET Almanzar, Michael, BAL Almonte, Abraham, SEA Alvarez, Pedro, PIT Arias, Joaquin, SF Aybar, Erick, LAA Bastardo, Antonio, PHI Bautista, Jose, TOR Beltre, Adrian, TEX Beltre, Engel, TEX Benoit, Joaquin, SD Bonifacio, Emilio, CHI Cabrera, Melky, TOR Cano, Robinson, SEA Casilla, Santiago, SF Castillo, Welington, CHI Castro, Starlin, CHI Ciriaco, Pedro, KC Cleto, Maikel, CWS Colon, Bartolo, NYM Cruz, Arnoldi, STL Cruz, Nelson, BAL Cueto, Johnny, CIN De Aza, Alejandro, CWS Deduno, Samuel, MIN Encarnacion, Edwin, TOR Familia, Jeurys, NYM Figueroa, Pedro, TB Florimon, Pedro, MIN Furcal, Rafael, MIA Garcia, Leury, CWS German, Gonzalez, NYM Gomez, Carlos, MIL Hernandez, Roberto, PHI Herrera, Kelvin, KC Jimenez, Ubaldo, BAL Lagares, Juan, NYM Lake, Junior, CHI Liriano, Francisco, PIT Marmol, Carlos, MIA Marte, Starling, PIT Martinez, Carlos, STL Mejia, Jenrry, NYM Nicasio, Juan, COL Noesi, Hector, SEA Nova, Ivan, NYY Ogando, Alexi, TEX Ortiz, David, BOS Oviedo, Juan Carlos, TB Ozuna, Marcell, MIA Paulino, Felipe, CWS Peguero, Francisco, BAL Peralta, Jhonny, STL Peralta, Joel, TB Peralta, Wily, MIL Perez, Juan, SF Pimentel, Stolmy, PIT Pineda, Michael, NYY Pujols, Albert, LAA Ramirez, Aramis, MIL Ramirez, Hanley, LAD Reyes, Jose, TOR Rodney, Fernando, SEA Rodriguez, Wandy, PIT Rogers, Esmil, TOR Rosario, Wilin, COL Salazar, Danny, CLE Santana, Carlos, CLE Santiago, Ramon, CIN | Segura, Jean, MIL Sierra, Moises, TOR Simon, Alfredo, CIN Soriano, Alfonso, NYY Soriano, Rafael, WSH Strop, Pedro, CHI Uribe, Juan, LAD Valverde, Jose, NYM Ventura, Yordano, KC Veras, Jose, CHI Villanueva, Carlos, CHI Villar, Jonathan, HOU Volquez, Edinson, PIT JAPAN (9) Aoki, Nori, KC Darvish, Yu, TEX Fujikawa, Kyuji, CHI Iwakuma, Hisashi, SEA Kuroda, Hiroki, NYY Suzuki, Ichiro, NYY Tanaka, Masahiro, NYY Tazawa, Junichi, BOS Uehara, Koji, BOS MEXICO (9) De La Rosa, Jorge, COL Estrada, Marco, MIL Gallardo, Yovani, MIL Garcia, Jaime, STL Gonzalez, Miguel, BAL Pena, Ramiro, ATL Perez, Oliver, ARI Salas, Fernando, LAA Soria, Joakim, TEX NICARAGUA (3) Cabrera, Everth, SD Lopez, Wilton, COL Ramirez, Erasmo, SEA PANAMA (4) Chen, Bruce, KC Delgado, Randall, ARI Ruiz, Carlos, PHI Tejada, Ruben, NYM PUERTO RICO (11) Beltran, Carlos, NYY Corporan, Carlos, HOU Lopez, Javier, SF Maldonado, Martin, MIL Molina, Jose, TB Molina, Yadier, STL Nieves, Wil, PHI Pagan, Angel, SF Rivera, Rene, SD Soto, Geovany, TEX Soto, Neftali, CIN SOUTH KOREA (2) Choo, Shin-Soo, TEX Ryu, Hyun-Jin, LAD TAIWAN (2) Chen, Wei-Yin, BAL Wang, Wei-Chung, MIL VENEZUELA (59) Adrianza, Ehire, SF Altuve, Jose, HOU Alvarez, Henderson, MIA Amarista, Alexi, SD Andrus, Elvis, TEX Arcia, Oswaldo, MIN Avilan, Luis, ATL Belisario, Ronald, CWS Blanco, Gregor, SF Cabrera, Asdrubal, CLE Cabrera, Miguel, DET Callaspo, Alberto, OAK Carrasco, Carlos, CLE Cervelli, Francisco, NYY Chacin, Jhoulys, COL Chirinos, Robinson, TEX Doubront, Felix, BOS Escalona, Edgmer, BAL Escobar, Alcides, KC Escobar, Eduardo, MIN Galvis, Freddy, PHI Garcia, Avisail, CWS Gomez, Jeanmar, PIT Gonzalez, Alex, DET Gonzalez, Carlos, COL Gonzalez, Marwin, HOU Gutierrez, J.C., SF Guzman, Jesus, HOU Hernandez, Cesar, PHI Hernandez, Felix, SEA Herrera, Jonathan, BOS Infante, Omar, KC Izturis, Maicer, TOR Lobaton, Jose, WSH Machi, Jean, SF Martinez, Victor, DET Medina, Yoervis, SEA Montero, Miguel, ARI Morales, Franklin, COL Mujica, Edward, BOS Navarro, Dioner, TOR Ortiz, Joseph, TEX Parra, Gerardo, ARI Perez, Martin, TEX Perez, Salvador, KC Petit, Yusmeiro, SF Pinto, Josmil, MIN Prado, Martin, ARI Ramos, Wilson, WSH Rodriguez, Francisco, MIL Rondon, Bruce, DET Rondon, Hector, CHI Sanchez, Anibal, DET Sanchez, Hector, SF Sandoval, Pablo, SF Scutaro, Marco, SF Tabata, Jose, PIT Torres, Alex, SD Valbuena, Luis, CHI |