GM: John Hart (since 1992)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Nagy | 25 | pre-arb | 33 | 7.0 | 0.4 | +5.1 |
| Kenny Lofton | 25 | pre-arb | 148 | 5.8 | 0.1 | +4.4 |
| Carlos Baerga | 23 | pre-arb | 161 | 5.5 | 0.5 | +3.8 |
| Albert Belle | 25 | arb | 153 | 2.0 | 0.2 | +1.4 |
| Paul Sorrento | 26 | arb | 140 | 1.8 | 0.1 | +1.2 |
| Sandy Alomar Jr. | 26 | arb | 89 | 1.3 | 0.5 | +0.5 |
| Mark Whiten | 25 | pre-arb | 148 | 1.1 | 0.3 | +0.6 |
| Brook Jacoby | 32 | FA-elig | 120 | 1.0 | 0.6 | +0.2 |
| Jose Mesa↔ BAL | 26 | arb | 15 | 1.0 | 0.1 | +0.7 |
| Mark Lewis | 22 | pre-arb | 122 | 0.8 | 0.1 | +0.5 |
| Derek Lilliquist | 26 | arb | 71 | 0.8 | 0.2 | +0.5 |
| Scott Scudder | 24 | arb | 23 | 0.8 | 0.2 | +0.5 |
| Glenallen Hill | 27 | arb | 102 | 0.8 | 0.3 | +0.3 |
| Jack Armstrong | 27 | arb | 35 | 0.7 | 0.3 | +0.2 |
| Reggie Jefferson | 23 | pre-arb | 24 | 0.6 | 0.1 | +0.3 |
| Thomas Howard↔ SDP | 27 | pre-arb | 117 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Ted Power | 37 | FA-elig | 64 | 0.5 | 0.3 | +0.1 |
| Felix Fermin | 28 | arb | 79 | 0.4 | 0.9 | -0.6 |
| Rod Nichols | 27 | arb | 30 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +0.1 |
| Kevin Wickander | 27 | – | 44 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Eric Plunk | 28 | FA-elig | 58 | 0.3 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| Steve Olin | 26 | arb | 72 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -0.1 |
| Jesse Levis | 24 | – | 28 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Eric Bell | 28 | FA-elig | 7 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Alan Embree | 22 | pre-arb | 4 | -0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Dennis Cook | 29 | arb | 32 | -0.0 | 0.4 | -0.4 |
| Mike Christopher | 28 | – | 10 | -0.1 | – | – |
| José Hernández | 22 | – | 3 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Dave Mlicki | 24 | – | 4 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Dave Otto | 27 | arb | 18 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.4 |
| Wayne Kirby | 28 | pre-arb | 21 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Dave Rohde | 28 | pre-arb | 5 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Jeff Shaw | 25 | pre-arb | 2 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| Carlos Martinez | 26 | – | 69 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Junior Ortiz | 32 | FA-elig | 86 | -0.2 | 0.3 | -0.4 |
| Jim Thome | 21 | pre-arb | 40 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| Jeff Mutis | 25 | pre-arb | 3 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.4 |
| Craig Worthington | 27 | – | 9 | -0.4 | – | – |
| Tony Perezchica | 26 | arb | 18 | -0.4 | 0.1 | -0.5 |
| Denis Boucher | 24 | pre-arb | 8 | -0.5 | 0.1 | -0.5 |
| Alex Cole↔ PIT | 26 | pre-arb | 41 | -0.9 | 0.1 | -0.7 |
| Brad Arnsberg | 28 | FA-elig | 8 | -1.0 | 0.1 | -0.9 |
42 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 35 of them (83%). 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 CLE |
|---|---|---|
| Kenny Lofton | 1991 | 42.5 |
| Corey Kluber | 2010 | 34.6 |
| Grady Sizemore | 2002 | 30.3 |
| Carlos Carrasco | 2009 | 25.5 |
| Travis Hafner | 2002 | 22.3 |
| Carlos Santana | 2008 | 21.6 |
| Michael Brantley | 2008 | 20.0 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | 2006 | 19.2 |
| Player | Year traded | WAR elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Kent | 1996 | 30.9 |
| Brandon Phillips | 2006 | 30.1 |
| Brian Giles | 1998 | 25.4 |
| Von Hayes | 1982 | 22.3 |
| Yandy Díaz | 2018 | 19.5 |
| Rick Sutcliffe | 1984 | 17.2 |
| Jeromy Burnitz | 1996 | 17.1 |
| Sean Casey | 1998 | 15.9 |