MLB-record 259 foreign players on Opening Day rosters

Baseball has become an international sport, and the makeup of clubhouses across Major League Baseball to begin 2017 seems to reflect that.

MLB announced Monday that 259 players on rosters to begin this season were born outside the United States, setting a new record for the sport. Foreign-born players make up 29.8 percent of the league's 868 players, a number that bests the previous record from Opening Day 2005.

Nineteen different countries are being represented by at least one player, another new record for the sport. Included on the list is Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler, who becomes the first player born and trained in Germany to make an Opening Day roster. Kepler, who was born and raised in Berlin, was signed by Minnesota out of MLB's European baseball camp in 2010.

The Dominican Republic has the second-most players on rosters to start the 2017 season, with 93, trailing only the United States. Among teams, the Texas Rangers (14) employ the most players from other countries.

MLB's previous high of foreign players on Opening Day was 246 in 2007.