GM: Bill Wood (since 1988)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Davis | 27 | arb | 152 | 3.9 | 0.3 | +0.9 |
| Mike Scott | 33 | FA-elig | 32 | 3.2 | 0.7 | +0.3 |
| Nolan Ryan Jr. | 41 | FA-elig | 33 | 3.0 | 1.0 | -0.0 |
| Bill Doran | 30 | FA-elig | 132 | 2.9 | 0.9 | -0.0 |
| Terry Puhl | 31 | FA-elig | 113 | 1.8 | 0.9 | -0.4 |
| Kevin Bass | 29 | FA-elig | 157 | 1.6 | 0.9 | -0.4 |
| Gerald Young | 23 | pre-arb | 149 | 1.6 | 0.1 | +0.4 |
| Larry Andersen | 35 | FA-elig | 53 | 1.5 | 0.5 | +0.0 |
| Rafael Ramirez | 30 | FA-elig | 155 | 1.1 | 0.9 | -0.6 |
| Bob Knepper | 34 | FA-elig | 27 | 1.1 | 1.0 | -0.7 |
| Billy Hatcher | 27 | arb | 145 | 0.9 | 0.2 | +0.1 |
| Dave Smith | 33 | FA-elig | 51 | 0.9 | 1.1 | -0.8 |
| Danny Darwin | 32 | FA-elig | 44 | 0.8 | 0.8 | -0.5 |
| Alex Trevino | 30 | FA-elig | 78 | 0.8 | 0.1 | +0.2 |
| Denny Walling↔ STL | 34 | FA-elig | 65 | 0.8 | 0.4 | -0.2 |
| Alan Ashby | 36 | FA-elig | 73 | 0.7 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
| Buddy Bell↔ CIN | 36 | FA-elig | 74 | 0.6 | 0.6 | -0.4 |
| Jim Deshaies | 28 | arb | 31 | 0.5 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Louie Meadows | 27 | – | 35 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Chuck Jackson | 25 | pre-arb | 46 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +0.0 |
| Bob Forsch↔ STL | 38 | FA-elig | 6 | 0.3 | 0.1 | +0.0 |
| Craig Biggio | 22 | – | 50 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Dave Meads | 24 | – | 22 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Steve Henderson | 35 | – | 42 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Cameron Drew | 24 | – | 7 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Casey Candaele↔ WSN | 27 | pre-arb | 21 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -0.0 |
| Rocky Childress | 26 | – | 11 | -0.0 | – | – |
| John Fishel | 25 | pre-arb | 19 | -0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Craig Smajstrla | 26 | – | 8 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Brian Meyer | 25 | – | 8 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Joaquin Andujar | 35 | FA-elig | 23 | -0.1 | 0.5 | -0.5 |
| Harry Spilman↔ SFG | 33 | FA-elig | 7 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Jim Pankovits | 32 | arb | 68 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Ernie Camacho | 33 | – | 13 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Craig Reynolds | 35 | FA-elig | 78 | -0.2 | 0.5 | -0.6 |
| Mark Bailey | 26 | arb | 8 | -0.2 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Jeff Heathcock | 28 | arb | 17 | -0.4 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Ken Caminiti | 25 | pre-arb | 30 | -0.5 | 0.1 | -0.2 |
| Juan Agosto | 30 | FA-elig | 75 | -0.6 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
39 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 30 of them (77%). 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 HOU |
|---|---|---|
| Jeff Bagwell | 1990 | 80.2 |
| Yordan Álvarez | 2016 | 26.7 |
| Mike Scott | 1982 | 21.9 |
| Justin Verlander | 2017 | 19.7 |
| Mike Hampton | 1993 | 19.2 |
| Kevin Bass | 1982 | 17.5 |
| Nolan Ryan | 1985 | 16.2 |
| Moisés Alou | 1997 | 13.5 |
| Player | Year traded | WAR elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| Kenny Lofton | 1991 | 42.5 |
| Curt Schilling | 1992 | 36.3 |
| Ben Zobrist | 2006 | 33.1 |
| Ken Caminiti | 1994 | 17.4 |
| Freddy García | 1998 | 15.6 |
| Jed Lowrie | 2013 | 13.0 |
| Ramón Laureano | 2017 | 9.2 |
| Patrick Sandoval | 2018 | 8.9 |