GM: Mark Shapiro (since 2002)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton Bradley | 25 | arb | 101 | 4.1 | 0.3 | +7.0 |
| CC Sabathia | 22 | pre-arb | 31 | 3.6 | 1.1 | +5.3 |
| Jody Gerut | 25 | – | 127 | 3.2 | – | – |
| Casey Blake | 29 | arb | 152 | 2.0 | 0.3 | +3.3 |
| David Riske | 26 | arb | 68 | 1.5 | 0.3 | +2.3 |
| Brian Anderson↔ KCR | 31 | FA-elig | 27 | 1.4 | 1.2 | +1.2 |
| Ryan Ludwick↔ TEX | 24 | – | 39 | 1.3 | – | – |
| Jake Westbrook | 25 | arb | 34 | 1.1 | 0.3 | +1.6 |
| Billy Traber | 23 | pre-arb | 33 | 1.0 | 0.3 | +1.5 |
| Omar Vizquel | 36 | FA-elig | 64 | 1.0 | 5.5 | -3.7 |
| Jason Davis | 23 | pre-arb | 28 | 1.0 | 0.3 | +1.4 |
| Jack Cressend | 28 | – | 33 | 0.9 | – | – |
| Josh Bard | 25 | pre-arb | 91 | 0.8 | 0.3 | +1.2 |
| Shane Spencer↔ TEX | 31 | arb | 64 | 0.8 | 0.3 | +1.1 |
| Jason Stanford | 26 | – | 13 | 0.8 | – | – |
| Danys Baez | 25 | pre-arb | 73 | 0.8 | 5.1 | -3.8 |
| Alex Escobar | 24 | – | 28 | 0.7 | – | – |
| Cliff Lee | 24 | pre-arb | 9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | +0.9 |
| Coco Crisp | 23 | – | 99 | 0.6 | – | – |
| Ellis Burks | 38 | FA-elig | 55 | 0.6 | 7.2 | -6.2 |
| Ben Broussard | 26 | pre-arb | 116 | 0.5 | 0.3 | +0.7 |
| Chris Magruder | 26 | – | 9 | 0.5 | – | – |
| Matt Lawton III | 31 | FA-elig | 99 | 0.5 | 6.8 | -5.9 |
| Dan Miceli↔ COL | 32 | FA-elig | 13 | 0.4 | 0.1 | +0.6 |
| Rafael Betancourt | 28 | – | 33 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Jhonny Peralta | 21 | – | 77 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Carl Sadler Jr. | 26 | pre-arb | 18 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +0.1 |
| Tim Laker | 33 | FA-elig | 52 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -0.0 |
| Travis Hafner | 26 | pre-arb | 91 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +0.0 |
| Greg LaRocca | 30 | – | 5 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Jason Bere | 32 | FA-elig | 2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | -0.7 |
| Victor Martinez | 24 | – | 49 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Nick Bierbrodt↔ TBR | 25 | pre-arb | 5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | +0.1 |
| Jose Santiago | 28 | FA-elig | 25 | 0.1 | 0.6 | -0.5 |
| Jason Boyd | 30 | – | 44 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Jerrod Riggan | 29 | – | 2 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Brian Tallet | 25 | – | 5 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Chad Paronto | 27 | – | 6 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Chad Durbin | 25 | – | 3 | 0.0 | – | – |
| David Lee | 30 | – | 8 | -0.0 | – | – |
| David Cortes | 29 | – | 2 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Angel Santos | 23 | – | 32 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jason Phillips | 29 | – | 3 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Aaron Myette | 25 | arb | 2 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Ricardo Rodriguez | 25 | pre-arb | 15 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Dave Elder | 27 | – | 4 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Zach Sorensen | 26 | – | 36 | -0.4 | – | – |
| Alex Herrera | 26 | – | 10 | -0.4 | – | – |
| Bill Selby | 33 | FA-elig | 27 | -0.4 | 0.3 | -1.1 |
| Ricky Gutierrez | 33 | FA-elig | 16 | -0.6 | 3.9 | -4.9 |
| Karim Garcia↔ NYY | 27 | FA-elig | 24 | -0.8 | 0.3 | -1.7 |
| Brandon Phillips | 22 | pre-arb | 112 | -0.8 | 0.3 | -1.7 |
| Terry Mulholland | 40 | FA-elig | 45 | -0.9 | 0.5 | -2.2 |
| John McDonald | 28 | arb | 82 | -1.0 | 0.3 | -2.1 |
54 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 31 of them (57%). 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 |