RRosternomics
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Guardians CLE

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President of baseball ops: Chris Antonetti · GM: Mike Chernoff

Overview

WINDOW ↘ cooling
cheap & winning · year 2 in this regime · payroll 0.36× league · TAB +6.9
+6.9TAB — talent above budget9th/30
+11.4WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)6th/30
5.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars22nd/30
-3.7dead WAR — sub-replacement drag6th/30
53%dead money %25th/30
0.494win %16th/30
28.5roster fWAR19th/30
+46surplus $M (value vs cost)2nd/30
$45Mpayroll $M29th/30

Roster

CFMyles Straw 156GBradley Zimmer 54GJordan Luplow 22G
LFHarold Ramírez 49GÓscar Mercado 45GDaniel Johnson 9G
RFJosh Naylor 51GBradley Zimmer 43GHarold Ramírez 34G
SSAmed Rosario 121GAndrés Giménez 42GYu Chang 7G
2BOwen Miller 29GAndrés Giménez 25GErnie Clement 22G
3BJosé Ramírez 133GYu Chang 21GErnie Clement 16G
1BBobby Bradley 68GYu Chang 49GOwen Miller 18G
STARTERSShane Bieber 2.5WARCal Quantrill 1.9WARTriston McKenzie 1.1WARZach Plesac 1.0WARAaron Civale 0.8WAR
CAustin Hedges 87GRoberto Pérez 43GWilson Ramos 34G
DHFranmil Reyes 103GJosé Ramírez 19GCésar Hernández 7G
BULLPEN★ Emmanuel Clase 24svBryan Shaw 20hJames Karinchak 13hNick Wittgren 10hNick Sandlin 5hBlake Parker 4hAlex Young 4hTrevor Stephan 3h
CAustin Hedges 87 · Roberto Pérez 43 · Wilson Ramos 34
1BBobby Bradley 68 · Yu Chang 49 · Owen Miller 18
2BOwen Miller 29 · Andrés Giménez 25 · Ernie Clement 22
3BJosé Ramírez 133 · Yu Chang 21 · Ernie Clement 16
SSAmed Rosario 121 · Andrés Giménez 42 · Yu Chang 7
LFHarold Ramírez 49 · Óscar Mercado 45 · Daniel Johnson 9
CFMyles Straw 156 · Bradley Zimmer 54 · Jordan Luplow 22
RFJosh Naylor 51 · Bradley Zimmer 43 · Harold Ramírez 34
DHFranmil Reyes 103 · José Ramírez 19 · César Hernández 7
SPShane Bieber 2.5 · Cal Quantrill 1.9 · Triston McKenzie 1.1 · Zach Plesac 1.0 · Aaron Civale 0.8
BP★ Emmanuel Clase 24 · Bryan Shaw 20 · James Karinchak 13 · Nick Wittgren 10 · Nick Sandlin 5 · Blake Parker 4 · Alex Young 4 · Trevor Stephan 3

Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

2021 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
José Ramírez 28 FA-elig 1526.4 9.4 +11.5
Amed Rosario 25 arb 1412.8 2.4 +6.7
Shane Bieber 26 pre-arb 162.5 0.7 +7.4
Emmanuel Clase 23 pre-arb 712.2 0.6 +6.4
Myles Straw↔ HOU 26 pre-arb 602.1 0.1 +6.5
Cal Quantrill 26 pre-arb 401.9 0.6 +5.6
Franmil Reyes 25 pre-arb 1151.7 0.6 +5.0
César Hernández↔ CHW 31 FA-elig 961.5 3.2 +1.5
Bradley Zimmer 28 pre-arb 991.4 0.4 +4.2
Triston McKenzie 23 pre-arb 251.1 0.4 +3.2
Zach Plesac 26 pre-arb 251.0 0.6 +2.7
Aaron Civale 26 pre-arb 210.8 0.6 +1.9
Yu Chang 25 – 890.8 – –
Andrés Giménez 22 pre-arb 680.7 0.3 +1.9
Óscar Mercado 26 pre-arb 720.6 0.3 +1.8
Nick Sandlin 24 – 340.6 0.5 +1.5
Phil Maton↔ HOU 28 arb 380.5 0.6 +1.2
Sam Hentges 24 – 300.4 0.5 +0.8
Josh Naylor 24 pre-arb 690.4 0.6 +0.6
Ernie Clement 25 – 400.4 0.3 +0.9
Eli Morgan 25 – 180.3 0.3 +0.8
Bobby Bradley 25 pre-arb 740.3 0.4 +0.7
Jordan Luplow↔ TBR 27 – 360.3 0.2 +0.9
Austin Hedges 28 FA-elig 880.3 3.3 -2.4
Blake Parker 36 FA-elig 470.2 0.6 +0.2
Eddie Rosario↔ ATL 29 FA-elig 780.2 5.6 -4.9
James Karinchak 25 pre-arb 600.2 0.5 +0.1
Anthony Gose 30 pre-arb 60.2 0.0 +0.5
Roberto Pérez 32 FA-elig 440.1 5.5 -5.2
Oliver Pérez 39 FA-elig 50.1 0.1 +0.2
Francisco Pérez 23 – 40.1 0.0 +0.2
René Rivera↔ WSN 37 – 210.1 0.3 -0.1
Ryan Lavarnway 33 FA-elig 90.1 0.1 +0.1
Daniel Johnson 25 pre-arb 30-0.0 0.2 -0.2
Kyle Nelson 24 pre-arb 10-0.0 0.1 -0.2
DJ Johnson↔ TBR 31 – 1-0.0 0.1 -0.2
Wilson Ramos↔ DET 33 FA-elig 9-0.0 0.4 -0.5
Bryan Shaw 33 FA-elig 81-0.1 1.0 -1.3
Ben Gamel↔ PIT 29 arb 11-0.2 0.0 -0.5
Harold Ramírez 26 pre-arb 99-0.2 0.5 -1.0
Alex Young↔ ARI 27 pre-arb 10-0.2 0.1 -0.6
Justin Garza 27 – 21-0.2 0.3 -1.0
Jake Bauers↔ SEA 25 – 43-0.3 0.1 -1.0
Nick Wittgren 30 arb 60-0.3 2.0 -3.1
Logan Allen 24 pre-arb 14-0.5 0.2 -1.8
Trevor Stephan 25 – 43-0.5 0.6 -2.2
J.C. Mejía 24 – 17-0.6 – –
Owen Miller 24 – 60-0.7 0.3 -2.5

Key additions (new vs 2020)

PlayerfWAR
Amed Rosario2.8
Emmanuel Clase2.2
Myles Straw2.1
Andrés Giménez0.7
Nick Sandlin0.6
Sam Hentges0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2020)

Player2020 fWAR
Francisco Lindor1.8
Carlos Carrasco1.5
Brad Hand1.1
Carlos Santana0.8
Adam Cimber0.1
Adam Plutko0.1

Current & Historical Payroll

2021 payroll
$45.4M
2022 guaranteed
$0M

What the front office was committed to as of 2021, 2021–2027. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2021; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.

current $ guaranteed $ arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent club option player option mutual option vesting option

Guaranteed / signed (7)

PlayerAgeSvc2021202220232024202520262027
José Ramírez286.074$9.4MFREE AGENT
Roberto Pérez326.083$5.5MFREE AGENT
César Hernández316.154$3.2MFREE AGENT
Bryan Shaw338.148$1.0MFREE AGENT
Wilson Ramos3310.047$409kFREE AGENT
René Rivera378.107$266kFREE AGENT
Oliver Pérez3919.000$100kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (9)

PlayerAgeSvc2021202220232024202520262027
Eddie Rosario295.120$5.6MFREE AGENT
Austin Hedges284.166$3.3MARB 3FREE AGENT
Amed Rosario253.062$2.4MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Wittgren304.071$2.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Blake Parker365.169$570kFREE AGENT
Phil Maton283.047$570kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sam Hentges245.157$482kFREE AGENT
Ryan Lavarnway333.075$100kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ben Gamel294.029$12kARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (32)

PlayerAgeSvc2021202220232024202520262027
Shane Bieber262.097$680kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Franmil Reyes252.115$602kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Plesac261.078$590kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Civale261.058$587kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cal Quantrill261.132$586kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Naylor241.118$578kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Emmanuel Clase230.059$572kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trevor Stephan250.000$570kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Harold Ramírez261.142$483kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Sandlin240.000$478kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
James Karinchak251.017$478kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Triston McKenzie230.103$436kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bradley Zimmer282.119$400kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bobby Bradley250.023$368kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eli Morgan250.000$331kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrés Giménez221.000$326kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Óscar Mercado261.114$297kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ernie Clement250.000$294kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Garza270.000$282kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Owen Miller240.000$276kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Logan Allen24–$243k
Jordan Luplow272.112$220kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Daniel Johnson250.036$172kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Myles Straw261.112$146kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Bauers251.100$139kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kyle Nelson240.022$129kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Young271.095$82kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
DJ Johnson310.109$58kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Francisco Pérez230.000$49kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Anthony Gose302.125$40kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Yu Chang252.000—ARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
J.C. Mejía24–—

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Guardians 2021; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.

What each regime is worth — every settled team-season since 1985

RegimeSeasonsWin %Playoff %Pennant %WS %
WINDOW 28152.131.05.01.1
CONTEND 30056.964.719.710.3
FORCED-SPEND 25648.09.81.61.6
REBUILD 32143.31.20.30.3
Rosternomics — quantifying front-office skill, attribution-clean. Follow @rosternomics on X. Decision-makers on record back to 1933; resource-controlled metrics (WAR & payroll) cover 1985–2026.
Data: FanGraphs (WAR), Baseball-Reference & the Chadwick Bureau register (rosters, IDs), the Lahman Database, Baseball America prospect rankings (via The Baseball Cube), and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0); bios are original. Emoji graphics by OpenMoji (CC BY-SA 4.0).
All figures are franchise-level outcomes credited to the decision-maker in the acquisition year — not solely attributable to one executive.