GM: Mark Shapiro (since 2002)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC Sabathia | 26 | FA-elig | 34 | 6.6 | 8.8 | +5.2 |
| Grady Sizemore | 24 | arb | 162 | 6.4 | 0.9 | +12.6 |
| Victor Martinez | 28 | arb | 147 | 5.4 | 3.2 | +8.4 |
| Rafael Betancourt | 32 | arb | 68 | 3.3 | 0.8 | +6.2 |
| Roberto Hernandez | 26 | pre-arb | 32 | 3.3 | 0.4 | +6.6 |
| Casey Blake | 33 | FA-elig | 156 | 2.9 | 3.8 | +2.4 |
| Travis Hafner | 30 | arb | 152 | 2.2 | 4.0 | +0.7 |
| Franklin Gutierrez | 24 | pre-arb | 100 | 1.8 | 0.4 | +3.4 |
| Paul Byrd | 36 | FA-elig | 31 | 1.8 | 7.0 | -3.2 |
| Jhonny Peralta | 25 | arb | 152 | 1.7 | 1.0 | +2.6 |
| Jake Westbrook | 29 | FA-elig | 25 | 1.7 | 6.1 | -2.5 |
| Jason Michaels | 31 | FA-elig | 105 | 1.4 | 2.0 | +1.0 |
| Rafael Perez | 25 | – | 44 | 1.3 | – | – |
| Kelly Shoppach | 27 | pre-arb | 59 | 1.2 | 0.4 | +2.2 |
| Aaron Laffey | 22 | – | 9 | 0.9 | – | – |
| Asdrúbal Cabrera | 21 | – | 45 | 0.7 | – | – |
| Jensen Lewis | 23 | – | 26 | 0.7 | – | – |
| Joe Borowski | 36 | FA-elig | 69 | 0.6 | 4.0 | -2.8 |
| Kenny Lofton↔ TEX | 40 | FA-elig | 52 | 0.5 | 2.3 | -1.2 |
| Ryan Garko | 26 | pre-arb | 138 | 0.5 | 0.4 | +0.6 |
| Jason Stanford | 30 | – | 8 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Ben Francisco | 25 | – | 25 | 0.3 | – | – |
| Aaron Fultz | 33 | FA-elig | 49 | 0.3 | 1.5 | -0.8 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | 24 | – | 6 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Tom Mastny | 26 | pre-arb | 51 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.3 |
| Matt Miller | 35 | arb | 2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | -0.4 |
| Mike Koplove | 30 | – | 5 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Jeremy Sowers | 24 | pre-arb | 13 | 0.0 | 0.4 | -0.3 |
| Jason Davis↔ SEA | 27 | arb | 8 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Cliff Lee | 28 | arb | 20 | -0.0 | 3.0 | -3.0 |
| Luis Rivas | 27 | – | 4 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Edward Mujica | 23 | – | 10 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Juan Lara | 26 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Roberto Hernandez↔ LAD | 42 | FA-elig | 28 | -0.1 | 1.8 | -2.1 |
| David Dellucci | 33 | FA-elig | 56 | -0.3 | 3.8 | -4.3 |
| Andy Marte | 23 | pre-arb | 20 | -0.3 | 0.4 | -1.0 |
| Fernando Cabrera↔ BAL | 25 | arb | 24 | -0.3 | 0.3 | -1.0 |
| Chris Gomez↔ BAL | 36 | FA-elig | 19 | -0.4 | 0.2 | -1.1 |
| Mike Rouse | 27 | pre-arb | 41 | -0.7 | 0.4 | -1.9 |
| Trot Nixon | 33 | FA-elig | 99 | -0.9 | 3.0 | -4.8 |
| Josh Barfield | 24 | pre-arb | 130 | -0.9 | 0.4 | -2.3 |
41 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 30 of them (73%). 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 |