GM: Tal Smith (since 2007)
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Oswalt | 29 | FA-elig | 33 | 4.8 | 13.0 | -2.7 |
| Hunter Pence | 24 | – | 108 | 3.5 | – | – |
| Wandy Rodriguez | 28 | pre-arb | 32 | 2.9 | 0.4 | +5.8 |
| Lance Berkman | 31 | FA-elig | 153 | 2.8 | 14.5 | -8.5 |
| Carlos Lee | 31 | FA-elig | 162 | 2.6 | 11.5 | -6.0 |
| Luke Scott | 29 | pre-arb | 132 | 2.3 | 0.4 | +4.5 |
| Mike Lamb | 31 | FA-elig | 124 | 1.8 | 2.7 | +1.2 |
| Mark Loretta | 35 | FA-elig | 133 | 0.8 | 2.5 | -0.7 |
| Chad Qualls | 28 | arb | 79 | 0.8 | 0.4 | +1.3 |
| Brad Lidge | 30 | arb | 66 | 0.8 | 5.3 | -3.7 |
| J.R. Towles | 23 | – | 14 | 0.6 | – | – |
| Ty Wigginton↔ TBR | 29 | arb | 50 | 0.6 | 0.9 | +0.4 |
| Dan Wheeler↔ TBR | 29 | FA-elig | 45 | 0.6 | 1.4 | -0.2 |
| Eric Bruntlett | 29 | – | 80 | 0.5 | – | – |
| Adam Everett | 30 | FA-elig | 66 | 0.5 | 2.8 | -1.8 |
| Dennis Sarfate | 26 | – | 7 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Brandon Backe | 29 | arb | 7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | +0.3 |
| Jason Jennings | 28 | FA-elig | 21 | 0.3 | 5.5 | -4.9 |
| Woody Williams | 40 | FA-elig | 34 | 0.3 | 6.0 | -5.4 |
| Chris Sampson | 29 | pre-arb | 25 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +0.1 |
| Josh Anderson | 24 | – | 21 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Cody Ransom | 31 | – | 19 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Mark McLemore | 26 | – | 29 | 0.2 | – | – |
| Juan Gutierrez | 23 | – | 7 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Dave Borkowski | 30 | FA-elig | 64 | 0.1 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Trever Miller | 34 | FA-elig | 76 | 0.1 | 1.3 | -1.2 |
| Brian Moehler | 35 | FA-elig | 42 | 0.0 | 0.5 | -0.5 |
| Troy Patton | 21 | – | 3 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Travis Driskill | 35 | – | 2 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Eric Munson | 29 | – | 50 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Orlando Palmeiro | 38 | FA-elig | 101 | -0.1 | 0.9 | -1.1 |
| Humberto Quintero | 27 | arb | 29 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.7 |
| Brad Ausmus | 38 | FA-elig | 117 | -0.2 | 4.0 | -4.3 |
| Rick White↔ SEA | 38 | FA-elig | 23 | -0.2 | 0.5 | -0.9 |
| Felipe Paulino | 23 | – | 5 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Matt Albers | 24 | – | 31 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Stephen Randolph | 33 | – | 14 | -0.4 | – | – |
| Chris Burke | 27 | arb | 111 | -0.5 | 0.4 | -1.5 |
| Jason Lane↔ SDP | 30 | arb | 68 | -0.6 | 1.0 | -2.2 |
| Craig Biggio | 41 | FA-elig | 141 | -0.8 | 5.2 | -6.9 |
| Morgan Ensberg↔ SDP | 31 | FA-elig | 85 | -0.8 | 3.2 | -5.0 |
41 players appeared (WAR is complete); salary & surplus are on record for 27 of them (66%). 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 |