GM: John Hart (since 1992)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roberto Alomar | 33 | FA-elig | 157 | 6.6 | 7.8 | +2.9 |
| Jim Thome | 30 | FA-elig | 156 | 5.4 | 7.9 | +0.8 |
| Juan Gonzalez | 31 | FA-elig | 140 | 4.3 | 10.0 | -3.0 |
| Bartolo Colon | 28 | arb | 34 | 3.8 | 2.6 | +3.6 |
| Einar Díaz | 28 | arb | 134 | 2.8 | 0.4 | +4.1 |
| CC Sabathia | 20 | – | 33 | 2.6 | – | – |
| Ellis Burks | 36 | FA-elig | 124 | 2.5 | 5.7 | -1.6 |
| Marty Cordova | 31 | FA-elig | 122 | 2.5 | 0.5 | +3.5 |
| Dave Burba | 34 | FA-elig | 32 | 2.4 | 5.0 | -1.1 |
| Chuck Finley | 38 | FA-elig | 22 | 2.1 | 9.7 | -6.4 |
| Bob Wickman | 32 | FA-elig | 70 | 2.0 | 2.6 | +0.7 |
| Paul Shuey | 30 | FA-elig | 47 | 1.8 | 2.0 | +0.9 |
| Steve Karsay↔ ATL | 29 | FA-elig | 31 | 1.5 | 1.1 | +1.3 |
| Kenny Lofton | 34 | FA-elig | 133 | 1.5 | 8.0 | -5.6 |
| Steve Woodard | 26 | arb | 29 | 1.1 | 1.3 | +0.5 |
| Ricardo Rincon | 31 | arb | 67 | 1.0 | 1.5 | +0.2 |
| Jake Westbrook | 23 | – | 23 | 0.8 | – | – |
| Danys Baez | 23 | – | 43 | 0.7 | – | – |
| Charles Nagy | 34 | FA-elig | 15 | 0.6 | 6.0 | -5.0 |
| Ryan Drese | 25 | – | 9 | 0.6 | – | – |
| Russell Branyan | 25 | arb | 113 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +0.5 |
| Rich Rodriguez | 38 | – | 53 | 0.5 | – | – |
| John Rocker↔ ATL | 26 | arb | 38 | 0.4 | 1.1 | -0.3 |
| Jaret Wright | 25 | arb | 7 | 0.2 | 2.6 | -2.2 |
| Karim Garcia | 25 | – | 20 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Milton Bradley↔ WSN | 23 | pre-arb | 10 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +0.2 |
| Steve Reed↔ ATL | 36 | FA-elig | 31 | 0.1 | 0.7 | -0.5 |
| Mike Bacsik | 23 | – | 3 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Omar Vizquel | 34 | FA-elig | 155 | 0.1 | 3.0 | -2.9 |
| David Riske | 24 | – | 26 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Dave Roberts | 29 | pre-arb | 15 | -0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Dave Hollins | 35 | – | 2 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Jolbert Cabrera | 28 | arb | 141 | -0.0 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Jacob Cruz↔ COL | 28 | arb | 28 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.3 |
| Eddie Taubensee | 32 | FA-elig | 52 | -0.2 | 1.8 | -2.0 |
| Tim Laker | 31 | – | 16 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Mark Lewis | 31 | – | 6 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Roy Smith | 25 | – | 9 | -0.2 | – | – |
| John McDonald | 26 | pre-arb | 17 | -0.3 | 0.2 | -0.6 |
| Scott Radinsky | 33 | – | 2 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Justin Speier↔ COL | 27 | arb | 12 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.6 |
| Tim Drew | 22 | pre-arb | 8 | -0.6 | 0.2 | -1.2 |
| Wil Cordero | 29 | FA-elig | 89 | -0.7 | 2.7 | -3.8 |
| Travis Fryman | 32 | FA-elig | 98 | -0.9 | 5.8 | -7.2 |
44 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 31 of them (70%). 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 |