Major League Baseball's opening-day rosters were comprised of 27.7% foreign-born players, just shy of its all-time record (29.2% in 2005), MLB announced Tuesday.

There were 231 foreign players on opening-day rosters, including a record number of Venezuelans (58). The New York Mets lead the major leaguers with 18 foreign-born players, the most in history, MLB said, and have players from seven different countries and territories.

The Dominican Republic has the most major league players born outside the United States with 86, followed by Venezuela, Puerto Rico (21), Japan (14), Canada (13) and Mexico (12).

The percentage of foreign players could see another significant spike in coming years. MLB reports that 48% of current minor-league players were born outside the USA. That's 3,370 of 7,026 players under contract.

By Bob Nightengale