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 4 in this regime · payroll 0.6× league · TAB +0.9
+0.9TAB — talent above budget17th/30
+0.6WAB — realized wins (TAB + luck)16th/30
7.0depth — 2+ WAR regulars13th/30
-6.1dead WAR — sub-replacement drag21st/30
51%dead money %24th/30
0.469win %21st/30
28.9roster fWAR18th/30
+22surplus $M (value vs cost)7th/30
$93Mpayroll $M23rd/30

Roster

CFMyles Straw 145GRamón Laureano 20GWill Brennan 11G
LFSteven Kwan 153GWill Brennan 7GOscar Gonzalez 2G
RFWill Brennan 110GRamón Laureano 83GOscar Gonzalez 30G
SSGabriel Arias 53GBrayan Rocchio 18GTyler Freeman 11G
2BAndrés Giménez 150GTyler Freeman 17GJosé Tena 3G
3BJosé Ramírez 125GTyler Freeman 25GGabriel Arias 14G
1BJosh Naylor 91GGabriel Arias 35GKole Calhoun 25G
STARTERSTanner Bibee 3.0WARShane Bieber 2.1WARLogan Allen 1.7WARGavin Williams 1.1WARCal Quantrill 0.7WAR
CBo Naylor 67GEric Haase 60GCam Gallagher 56G
DHJosé Ramírez 31GJosh Naylor 27GOscar Gonzalez 19G
BULLPEN★ Emmanuel Clase 44svTrevor Stephan 28hReynaldo López 22hSam Hentges 17hEnyel De Los Santos 16hJames Karinchak 13hNick Sandlin 10hEli Morgan 8h
CBo Naylor 67 · Eric Haase 60 · Cam Gallagher 56
1BJosh Naylor 91 · Gabriel Arias 35 · Kole Calhoun 25
2BAndrés Giménez 150 · Tyler Freeman 17 · José Tena 3
3BJosé Ramírez 125 · Tyler Freeman 25 · Gabriel Arias 14
SSGabriel Arias 53 · Brayan Rocchio 18 · Tyler Freeman 11
LFSteven Kwan 153 · Will Brennan 7 · Oscar Gonzalez 2
CFMyles Straw 145 · Ramón Laureano 20 · Will Brennan 11
RFWill Brennan 110 · Ramón Laureano 83 · Oscar Gonzalez 30
DHJosé Ramírez 31 · Josh Naylor 27 · Oscar Gonzalez 19
SPTanner Bibee 3.0 · Shane Bieber 2.1 · Logan Allen 1.7 · Gavin Williams 1.1 · Cal Quantrill 0.7
BP★ Emmanuel Clase 44 · Trevor Stephan 28 · Reynaldo López 22 · Sam Hentges 17 · Enyel De Los Santos 16 · James Karinchak 13 · Nick Sandlin 10 · Eli Morgan 8

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.

2023 roster — value & surplus

PlayerAgeServiceGfWARSalary $MSurplus $M
José Ramírez 30 FA-elig 1564.6 14.0 +4.3
Andrés Giménez 24 arb 1533.8 1.6 +13.5
Tanner Bibee 24 – 253.0 0.6 +11.4
Steven Kwan 25 pre-arb 1583.0 0.7 +11.2
Josh Naylor 26 arb 1212.7 3.4 +7.2
Shane Bieber 28 arb 212.1 10.0 -1.7
Bo Naylor 23 pre-arb 672.1 0.4 +7.8
Emmanuel Clase 25 arb 751.7 1.9 +5.0
Logan Allen 24 – 241.7 0.6 +6.1
Aaron Civale↔ TBR 28 arb 131.6 1.5 +4.9
Gavin Williams 23 – 161.1 0.4 +4.1
Sam Hentges 26 pre-arb 561.1 0.7 +3.6
Trevor Stephan 27 pre-arb 710.9 1.4 +2.4
Ramón Laureano↔ OAK 28 arb 410.8 1.4 +1.7
Cal Quantrill 28 arb 190.7 5.5 -2.6
Enyel De Los Santos 27 arb 700.7 0.8 +2.2
Gabriel Arias 23 pre-arb 1220.5 0.7 +1.3
Xzavion Curry 24 pre-arb 410.4 0.7 +1.0
Eli Morgan 27 pre-arb 610.4 0.7 +1.0
Reynaldo López↔ ANA 29 FA-elig 120.4 0.6 +0.8
Zach Plesac 28 arb 50.2 3.0 -2.0
Michael Kelly 30 pre-arb 140.2 0.4 +0.5
Triston McKenzie 25 pre-arb 40.2 0.7 +0.1
Tyler Freeman 24 pre-arb 640.2 0.6 +0.2
Myles Straw 28 arb 1470.2 2.9 -2.2
Hunter Gaddis 25 pre-arb 110.1 0.7 -0.1
Tim Herrin 26 – 230.1 0.3 +0.2
Zack Collins 28 pre-arb 20.1 0.0 +0.3
Peyton Battenfield 25 – 70.1 0.4 -0.2
Amed Rosario↔ LAD 27 FA-elig 940.0 5.2 -5.0
Matt Moore↔ ANA 34 FA-elig 50.0 0.8 -0.6
Konnor Pilkington 25 – 10.0 0.0 +0.1
Touki Toussaint↔ CHW 27 – 1-0.0 0.0 -0.2
Eric Haase↔ DET 30 arb 3-0.0 0.0 -0.2
Will Brennan 25 pre-arb 138-0.1 0.7 -0.9
Meibrys Viloria 26 arb 10-0.1 0.8 -1.2
José Tena 22 – 18-0.2 0.2 -0.9
James Karinchak 27 arb 44-0.2 1.5 -2.3
Kole Calhoun 35 FA-elig 43-0.2 0.2 -1.0
Cody Morris 26 pre-arb 6-0.2 0.4 -1.3
Nick Sandlin 26 pre-arb 61-0.3 0.7 -1.8
David Fry 27 – 58-0.3 0.6 -1.8
Josh Bell↔ MIA 30 FA-elig 97-0.3 10.7 -11.8
Mike Zunino 32 FA-elig 42-0.3 6.0 -7.2
Daniel Norris 30 FA-elig 7-0.3 0.1 -1.5
Brayan Rocchio 22 – 23-0.4 0.1 -1.6
Lucas Giolito↔ ANA 28 FA-elig 6-0.4 1.9 -3.5
Noah Syndergaard↔ LAD 30 FA-elig 6-0.5 4.3 -6.5
Cam Gallagher 30 FA-elig 56-0.7 1.2 -4.0
Oscar Gonzalez 25 pre-arb 54-1.4 0.7 -6.4

Key additions (new vs 2022)

PlayerfWAR
Tanner Bibee3.0
Logan Allen1.7
Gavin Williams1.1
Ramón Laureano0.8
Reynaldo López0.4
Michael Kelly0.2

Key subtractions (gone from 2022)

Player2022 fWAR
Luke Maile0.7
Owen Miller0.7
Nolan Jones0.2
Logan Allen0.1
Alex Call0.1
Sandy León0.0

Current & Historical Payroll

2023 payroll
$92.8M
2024 guaranteed
$13.4M

What the front office was committed to as of 2023, 2023–2029. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2023; 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 (10)

PlayerAgeSvc2023202420252026202720282029
José Ramírez308.074$14.0MFREE AGENT
Josh Bell306.053$10.7MFREE AGENT
Mike Zunino3210.000$6.0MFREE AGENT
Noah Syndergaard308.000$4.3MFREE AGENT
Myles Straw283.112$2.9M$4.9M$6.4M$7.4M$8.0MCLUB$8.5MCLUBFREE AGENT
Emmanuel Clase252.059$1.9M$2.9M$4.9M$6.4M$10.0MCLUB$10.0MCLUBFREE AGENT
Andrés Giménez242.106$1.6M$5.6M$10.6M$15.6M$23.6M$23.6M$23.6M
Matt Moore3410.000$755kFREE AGENT
Kole Calhoun359.130$225kFREE AGENT
Daniel Norris309.000$100kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (12)

PlayerAgeSvc2023202420252026202720282029
Shane Bieber284.097$10.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Cal Quantrill283.132$5.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Amed Rosario275.062$5.2MFREE AGENT
Josh Naylor263.127$3.4MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zach Plesac283.086$3.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lucas Giolito285.080$1.9MFREE AGENT
Aaron Civale283.058$1.5MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ramón Laureano283.165$1.4MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cam Gallagher304.073$1.2MARB 3FREE AGENT
Enyel De Los Santos275.000$750kFREE AGENT
Meibrys Viloria265.000$750kFREE AGENT
Reynaldo López295.004$640kFREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (28)

PlayerAgeSvc2023202420252026202720282029
James Karinchak272.169$1.5MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Trevor Stephan272.000$1.4MARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Triston McKenzie252.074$740kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Sam Hentges261.157$730kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Steven Kwan251.000$727kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eli Morgan271.108$727kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Sandlin261.152$726kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Oscar Gonzalez250.133$723kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Will Brennan250.015$720kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Xzavion Curry240.003$720kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Hunter Gaddis250.022$720kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gabriel Arias230.019$720kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tanner Bibee240.000$612kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler Freeman240.064$596kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
David Fry270.000$592kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Logan Allen240.000$554kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Peyton Battenfield251.129$445kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bo Naylor230.005$418kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Gavin Williams230.000$399kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Michael Kelly300.013$383kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Cody Morris261.000$376kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tim Herrin260.000$298kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
José Tena220.000$162kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brayan Rocchio220.000$143kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Eric Haase302.072$25kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Touki Toussaint272.135$20kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Zack Collins282.095$15kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Konnor Pilkington250.057$8kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Guardians 2023; 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.