GM: Mark Shapiro (since 2002)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grady Sizemore | 22 | pre-arb | 158 | 5.6 | 0.3 | +10.2 |
| Travis Hafner | 28 | arb | 137 | 5.3 | 0.4 | +9.6 |
| Coco Crisp | 25 | arb | 145 | 5.2 | 0.4 | +9.4 |
| Victor Martinez | 26 | arb | 147 | 4.7 | 0.4 | +8.5 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 23 | pre-arb | 141 | 4.3 | 0.3 | +7.7 |
| CC Sabathia | 24 | arb | 31 | 3.8 | 5.2 | +1.8 |
| Cliff Lee | 26 | arb | 32 | 3.7 | 0.3 | +6.6 |
| Kevin Millwood | 30 | FA-elig | 30 | 3.4 | 7.0 | -0.7 |
| Ronnie Belliard | 30 | FA-elig | 145 | 3.3 | 2.5 | +3.7 |
| Jake Westbrook | 27 | arb | 34 | 2.9 | 2.9 | +2.5 |
| Casey Blake | 31 | FA-elig | 147 | 1.9 | 2.2 | +1.4 |
| Rafael Betancourt | 30 | pre-arb | 54 | 1.5 | 0.3 | +2.4 |
| Bob Howry | 31 | FA-elig | 79 | 1.4 | 0.9 | +1.7 |
| Arthur Rhodes | 35 | FA-elig | 47 | 1.2 | 3.7 | -1.4 |
| Ben Broussard | 28 | arb | 142 | 0.9 | 0.4 | +1.3 |
| Scott Elarton | 29 | FA-elig | 31 | 0.8 | 0.8 | +0.6 |
| Matt Miller | 33 | pre-arb | 23 | 0.5 | 0.3 | +0.6 |
| Alex Cora↔ BOS | 29 | FA-elig | 49 | 0.5 | 0.7 | +0.2 |
| Fernando Cabrera | 23 | – | 15 | 0.5 | – | – |
| Aaron Boone | 32 | FA-elig | 143 | 0.2 | 3.0 | -2.6 |
| Jason Davis | 25 | arb | 11 | 0.2 | 0.3 | +0.0 |
| Kazuhito Tadano | 25 | – | 1 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Franklin Gutierrez | 22 | – | 7 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Ramón Vázquez↔ BOS | 28 | arb | 12 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Jody Gerut↔ CHC | 27 | pre-arb | 44 | 0.0 | 0.3 | -0.2 |
| Scott Sauerbeck | 33 | FA-elig | 58 | 0.0 | 0.5 | -0.5 |
| Juan Gonzalez | 35 | FA-elig | 1 | -0.0 | 0.6 | -0.6 |
| Ryan Garko | 24 | – | 1 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Jason Dubois↔ CHC | 26 | pre-arb | 14 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| David Riske | 28 | FA-elig | 58 | -0.1 | 1.4 | -1.6 |
| Ryan Ludwick | 26 | arb | 19 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Josh Bard | 27 | arb | 34 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Jeremy Guthrie | 26 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Brian Tallet | 27 | – | 2 | -0.2 | – | – |
| José Hernández | 35 | FA-elig | 84 | -0.2 | 1.8 | -2.2 |
| Brandon Phillips | 24 | – | 6 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Bob Wickman | 36 | FA-elig | 64 | -0.3 | 2.8 | -3.3 |
| Jeff Liefer | 30 | – | 19 | -0.4 | – | – |
38 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 30 of them (79%). 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 |