List of active Major League Baseball players by country of birth

Number of MLB 26-man players by country (or possession) (2025)[1][2]
Rank Country (or possession) # %
1 United States1,08173.5%
2 Dominican Republic1449.8%
3 Venezuela936.3%
4 Cuba342.3%
5 Puerto Rico271.8%
6 Canada221.5%
7 Mexico151%
8 Japan130.9%
9 Colombia80.5%
10 Panama60.4%
11 South Korea50.3%
11 Curaçao[a]40.3%
13 Nicaragua30.2%
14 Aruba[b]20.1%
 Australia20.1%
 Germany20.1%
 Italy20.1%
 Taiwan20.1%
19 Bahamas10.1%
 Honduras10.1%
 Peru10.1%
 Portugal10.1%
 South Africa10.1%
 United Kingdom10.1%

Major League Baseball is a professional baseball league in Canada and the United States. Players do not register with a country, so nationality is often disputed when international fixtures come around, such as Manny Machado representing the Dominican Republic instead of the United States in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[3] Similarly, Alex Rodriguez played for the United States in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, but before the 2009 World Baseball Classic he announced his intention to play for the Dominican Republic (though ultimately he didn't play in the 2009 tournament due to injury).[4][5] And in another example, Marcus Stroman played for the United States in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but played for Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[6] As such, player representation by birth spans to 25 countries as of the 2022 MLB season, with the United States topping the list at 1,057 players called up to 26-man rosters.[1] The most represented overseas country is the Dominican Republic, with 171 players called up to 26-man rosters.[1] The ranking for countries for most MLB players by birth matches well with the WBSC World Rankings, although East Asia and Australia underperforms in MLB and European nations have little to no representation, likely due to acquisition fees, travel to home soil, and/or professional baseball leagues in their home country with good revenue.[7][8]

Africa

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South Africa

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Americas

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Aruba

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Aruba native Xander Bogaerts in 2016

Bahamas

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Brazil

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Brazil native Yan Gomes in 2016

Canada

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Canada native Joey Votto in 2011

Colombia

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Cuba

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Cuba native Raisel Iglesias in 2017

Curaçao

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Curaçao native Andrelton Simmons in 2018

Dominican Republic

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Nelson Cruz in 2017

Honduras

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Mexico

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Nicaragua

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Panama

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Peru

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Puerto Rico

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United States

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Venezuela

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Asia

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Japan

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South Korea

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Taiwan

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Europe

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Germany

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Italy

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Portugal

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United Kingdom

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Oceania

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Australia

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Guam

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Footnotes

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  1. Curaçao is represented by the Netherlands in certain international competitions.
  2. Aruba is represented by the Netherlands in certain international competitions.

See also

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References

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