GM: Mark Shapiro (since 2002)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grady Sizemore | 23 | pre-arb | 162 | 7.9 | 0.5 | +15.1 |
| Travis Hafner | 29 | arb | 129 | 6.0 | 2.7 | +9.1 |
| CC Sabathia | 25 | arb | 28 | 5.1 | 7.0 | +3.0 |
| Jake Westbrook | 28 | FA-elig | 32 | 3.7 | 4.2 | +3.1 |
| Victor Martinez | 27 | arb | 153 | 2.8 | 1.0 | +4.5 |
| Cliff Lee | 27 | arb | 33 | 2.3 | 0.4 | +4.2 |
| Casey Blake | 32 | FA-elig | 109 | 1.8 | 3.0 | +0.6 |
| Paul Byrd | 35 | FA-elig | 31 | 1.7 | 7.0 | -3.5 |
| Shin-Soo Choo↔ SEA | 23 | – | 45 | 1.2 | – | – |
| Jason Davis | 26 | – | 39 | 1.1 | – | – |
| Ben Broussard↔ SEA | 29 | arb | 88 | 1.0 | 1.5 | +0.4 |
| Jeremy Sowers | 23 | – | 14 | 0.9 | – | – |
| Rafael Betancourt | 31 | arb | 50 | 0.8 | 0.4 | +1.3 |
| Jason Michaels | 30 | arb | 123 | 0.5 | 1.5 | -0.4 |
| Jason Johnson↔ BOS | 32 | FA-elig | 14 | 0.5 | 2.0 | -1.0 |
| Joe Inglett | 28 | – | 64 | 0.5 | – | – |
| Ronnie Belliard↔ STL | 31 | FA-elig | 93 | 0.5 | 2.5 | -1.6 |
| Bob Wickman↔ ATL | 37 | FA-elig | 29 | 0.5 | 2.5 | -1.6 |
| Edward Mujica | 22 | – | 10 | 0.5 | – | – |
| Kelly Shoppach | 26 | pre-arb | 41 | 0.4 | 0.3 | +0.4 |
| Roberto Hernandez | 25 | – | 38 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Eduardo Perez↔ SEA | 36 | FA-elig | 37 | 0.4 | 0.8 | -0.1 |
| Todd Hollandsworth↔ CIN | 33 | FA-elig | 56 | 0.4 | 0.6 | +0.1 |
| Ryan Garko | 25 | – | 50 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Andy Marte | 22 | – | 50 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Brian Sikorski↔ SDP | 31 | – | 17 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Tom Mastny | 25 | – | 15 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Franklin Gutierrez | 23 | – | 43 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Juan Lara | 25 | – | 9 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Brian Slocum | 25 | – | 8 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Jhonny Peralta | 24 | arb | 149 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.3 |
| Rafael Perez | 24 | – | 18 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Andrew Brown | 25 | – | 9 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Tim Laker | 36 | – | 4 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Matt Miller | 34 | arb | 14 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Jeremy Guthrie | 27 | – | 9 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Scott Sauerbeck↔ OAK | 34 | FA-elig | 24 | -0.1 | 0.6 | -0.9 |
| Lou Merloni | 35 | – | 9 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Fernando Cabrera | 24 | pre-arb | 51 | -0.2 | 0.3 | -0.7 |
| Kevin Kouzmanoff | 24 | – | 16 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Danny Graves | 32 | FA-elig | 13 | -0.3 | 0.6 | -1.2 |
| Guillermo Mota↔ NYM | 32 | FA-elig | 34 | -0.6 | 2.0 | -3.2 |
| Aaron Boone | 33 | FA-elig | 104 | -0.8 | 3.8 | -5.3 |
| Hector Luna↔ STL | 26 | pre-arb | 37 | -0.9 | 0.1 | -1.8 |
| Ramón Vázquez | 29 | arb | 34 | -0.9 | 0.7 | -2.5 |
45 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 26 of them (58%). 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 |