President of baseball ops: Chris Antonetti (since 2016) · GM: Mike Chernoff (since 2016)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Bieber | 25 | pre-arb | 12 | 3.1 | 0.2 | +22.8 |
| José Ramírez | 27 | FA-elig | 58 | 3.1 | 6.7 | +16.1 |
| César Hernández | 30 | FA-elig | 58 | 1.9 | 6.2 | +7.3 |
| Francisco Lindor | 26 | arb | 60 | 1.8 | 17.5 | -4.0 |
| Carlos Carrasco | 33 | FA-elig | 12 | 1.5 | 10.2 | +0.5 |
| Zach Plesac | 25 | pre-arb | 8 | 1.5 | 0.2 | +10.5 |
| Aaron Civale | 25 | pre-arb | 12 | 1.2 | 0.2 | +8.3 |
| Brad Hand | 30 | FA-elig | 23 | 1.1 | 7.6 | +0.5 |
| James Karinchak | 24 | pre-arb | 27 | 1.1 | 0.2 | +7.8 |
| Franmil Reyes | 24 | pre-arb | 59 | 0.8 | 0.2 | +5.4 |
| Carlos Santana | 34 | FA-elig | 60 | 0.8 | 20.8 | -15.3 |
| Phil Maton | 27 | pre-arb | 23 | 0.7 | 0.2 | +4.6 |
| Triston McKenzie | 22 | – | 8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | +4.1 |
| Oliver Pérez | 38 | FA-elig | 21 | 0.4 | 1.1 | +1.6 |
| Roberto Pérez | 31 | FA-elig | 32 | 0.3 | 3.6 | -1.1 |
| Cal Quantrill↔ SDP | 25 | pre-arb | 8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | +1.5 |
| Jordan Luplow | 26 | pre-arb | 29 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +1.2 |
| Adam Cimber | 29 | pre-arb | 14 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +0.6 |
| Yu Chang | 24 | – | 10 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Adam Plutko | 28 | pre-arb | 10 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +0.4 |
| Delino DeShields | 27 | arb | 37 | 0.1 | 1.9 | -1.4 |
| Nick Wittgren | 29 | arb | 25 | 0.1 | 1.1 | -0.7 |
| Bradley Zimmer | 27 | pre-arb | 20 | 0.0 | 0.1 | +0.2 |
| Mike Freeman | 32 | pre-arb | 24 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Mike Clevinger↔ SDP | 29 | arb | 4 | 0.0 | 2.0 | -2.0 |
| Christian Arroyo↔ BOS | 25 | – | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.0 |
| Logan Allen | 23 | pre-arb | 3 | -0.0 | 0.0 | -0.4 |
| Greg Allen↔ SDP | 27 | – | 15 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.6 |
| Kyle Nelson | 23 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Dominic Leone | 28 | arb | 12 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.7 |
| Sandy León | 31 | FA-elig | 25 | -0.1 | 2.0 | -2.7 |
| Josh Naylor↔ SDP | 23 | pre-arb | 22 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.8 |
| Austin Hedges↔ SDP | 27 | arb | 6 | -0.1 | 0.5 | -1.3 |
| Cam Hill | 26 | – | 18 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -1.2 |
| Domingo Santana | 27 | FA-elig | 24 | -0.2 | 1.2 | -2.5 |
| Daniel Johnson | 24 | – | 5 | -0.2 | 0.0 | -1.5 |
| Beau Taylor | 30 | pre-arb | 7 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -1.9 |
| Tyler Naquin | 29 | arb | 40 | -0.6 | 1.4 | -6.2 |
| Óscar Mercado | 25 | pre-arb | 36 | -0.7 | 0.2 | -5.6 |
39 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 37 of them (95%). 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 |