GM: Andy MacPhail (since 2001)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Sosa | 33 | FA-elig | 150 | 5.1 | 15.0 | -6.3 |
| Matt Clement | 27 | arb | 32 | 4.2 | 2.5 | +4.8 |
| Mark Bellhorn | 27 | arb | 146 | 3.9 | 0.2 | +6.4 |
| Kerry Wood | 25 | arb | 33 | 3.7 | 3.7 | +2.6 |
| Jon Lieber | 32 | FA-elig | 21 | 3.1 | 5.8 | -0.5 |
| Mark Prior | 21 | – | 19 | 3.0 | – | – |
| Fred McGriff | 38 | FA-elig | 146 | 2.4 | 7.2 | -3.1 |
| Bill Mueller↔ SFG | 31 | FA-elig | 103 | 2.3 | 3.2 | +0.8 |
| Joe Borowski | 31 | FA-elig | 73 | 1.5 | 0.2 | +2.3 |
| Moises Alou | 35 | FA-elig | 132 | 1.4 | 6.0 | -3.7 |
| Alex Gonzalez | 29 | FA-elig | 142 | 1.0 | 4.2 | -2.5 |
| Alan Benes | 30 | – | 7 | 1.0 | – | – |
| Carlos Zambrano | 21 | – | 32 | 0.8 | – | – |
| Jason Bere | 31 | FA-elig | 16 | 0.7 | 3.4 | -2.2 |
| Antonio Alfonseca | 30 | arb | 66 | 0.7 | 3.5 | -2.4 |
| Darren Lewis | 34 | FA-elig | 58 | 0.6 | 0.5 | +0.5 |
| Robert Machado↔ MIL | 29 | FA-elig | 22 | 0.5 | 0.1 | +0.7 |
| Bobby Hill | 24 | – | 59 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Tom Gordon↔ HOU | 34 | FA-elig | 19 | 0.4 | 1.6 | -0.8 |
| Angel Echevarria | 31 | – | 50 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Roosevelt Brown | 26 | arb | 111 | 0.4 | 0.3 | +0.4 |
| Delino DeShields | 33 | FA-elig | 67 | 0.4 | 1.2 | -0.7 |
| Jeff Fassero↔ STL | 39 | FA-elig | 57 | 0.3 | 2.2 | -1.7 |
| Todd Hundley | 33 | FA-elig | 92 | 0.3 | 6.5 | -6.1 |
| Chris Stynes | 29 | FA-elig | 98 | 0.2 | 1.2 | -0.9 |
| Corey Patterson | 22 | pre-arb | 153 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Kevin Orie | 29 | – | 13 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Mike Mahoney | 29 | – | 16 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Courtney Duncan | 27 | – | 2 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Donovan Osborne | 33 | FA-elig | 11 | 0.0 | 0.5 | -0.4 |
| Juan Cruz | 23 | pre-arb | 45 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Pat Mahomes | 31 | – | 18 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Will Cunnane | 28 | – | 16 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Scott Chiasson | 24 | – | 4 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Mario Encarnacion | 26 | – | 3 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Francis Beltran | 22 | – | 11 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Hee-Seop Choi | 23 | – | 24 | -0.4 | – | – |
| Augie Ojeda | 27 | pre-arb | 30 | -0.5 | 0.2 | -1.0 |
| Kyle Farnsworth | 26 | arb | 45 | -0.5 | 0.4 | -1.2 |
| Jesus Sanchez | 27 | arb | 8 | -0.5 | 1.4 | -2.2 |
| Chad Hermansen↔ PIT | 24 | arb | 35 | -0.5 | 0.1 | -0.9 |
| Joe Girardi | 37 | FA-elig | 90 | -0.5 | 1.5 | -2.3 |
| Ron Mahay | 31 | – | 11 | -0.5 | – | – |
| Steve Smyth | 24 | – | 8 | -0.5 | – | – |
44 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 28 of them (64%). Players without a salary show "–" — no single historical salary source is fully complete (especially 2020–2022).
WAR = FanGraphs (fWAR). Green = produced more value than paid (bargain); red = paid more than produced. Service: pre-arb (<3 yr) / arb (3–6) / FA-eligible (6+). Click headers to sort.
| Player | Year | WAR for CHC |
|---|---|---|
| Sammy Sosa | 1992 | 60.7 |
| Ryne Sandberg | 1982 | 48.2 |
| Anthony Rizzo | 2012 | 31.1 |
| Aramis Ramírez | 2003 | 25.0 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 2012 | 24.4 |
| Derrek Lee | 2003 | 21.4 |
| Jake Arrieta | 2013 | 19.6 |
| Rick Sutcliffe | 1984 | 17.2 |
| Player | Year traded | WAR elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| Rafael Palmeiro | 1988 | 42.3 |
| Dontrelle Willis | 2002 | 20.7 |
| Dennis Eckersley | 1987 | 19.3 |
| Ricky Nolasco | 2005 | 17.5 |
| Jon Garland | 1998 | 17.2 |
| Chris Archer | 2011 | 16.9 |
| Gleyber Torres | 2016 | 15.9 |
| Josh Donaldson | 2008 | 13.8 |