GM: John Hart
1999: made playoffs · 97–65. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.
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.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manny Ramirez | 27 | FA-elig | 147 | 7.5 | 4.3 | +5.0 |
| Roberto Alomar | 31 | FA-elig | 159 | 7.3 | 7.0 | +2.1 |
| Omar Vizquel | 32 | FA-elig | 144 | 6.0 | 3.0 | +4.5 |
| Kenny Lofton | 32 | FA-elig | 120 | 4.8 | 7.5 | -1.5 |
| Jim Thome | 28 | FA-elig | 146 | 4.2 | 8.2 | -2.9 |
| Bartolo Colon | 26 | pre-arb | 32 | 3.8 | 0.6 | +4.1 |
| David Justice | 33 | FA-elig | 133 | 3.2 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Charles Nagy | 32 | FA-elig | 34 | 3.2 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Dave Burba | 32 | FA-elig | 34 | 3.1 | 4.7 | -0.7 |
| Paul Shuey | 28 | arb | 72 | 1.8 | 1.1 | +1.2 |
| Steve Karsay | 27 | FA-elig | 50 | 1.6 | 0.5 | +1.5 |
| Einar Díaz | 26 | arb | 119 | 1.2 | 0.2 | +1.3 |
| Jaret Wright | 23 | pre-arb | 26 | 1.0 | 0.8 | +0.4 |
| Dwight Gooden | 34 | FA-elig | 26 | 0.7 | 2.6 | -1.7 |
| Travis Fryman | 30 | FA-elig | 85 | 0.7 | 5.2 | -4.4 |
| Jacob Cruz | 26 | arb | 32 | 0.6 | 0.2 | +0.6 |
| Sean DePaula | 25 | pre-arb | 11 | 0.5 | 0.2 | +0.4 |
| Chris Haney | 30 | FA-elig | 13 | 0.5 | 0.6 | +0.0 |
| Richie Sexson | 24 | pre-arb | 134 | 0.4 | 0.2 | +0.3 |
| Sandy Alomar Jr. | 33 | FA-elig | 37 | 0.4 | 2.8 | -2.3 |
| Mark Langston | 38 | FA-elig | 25 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +0.1 |
| Mike Jackson | 34 | FA-elig | 72 | 0.3 | 2.1 | -1.8 |
| Wil Cordero | 27 | FA-elig | 54 | 0.3 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
| Jeff Manto↔ NYY | 34 | – | 12 | 0.2 | – | – |
| John McDonald | 24 | – | 18 | 0.2 | – | – |
| David Riske | 22 | pre-arb | 12 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.0 |
| Alex Ramirez | 24 | pre-arb | 48 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Steve Reed | 34 | FA-elig | 63 | 0.1 | 1.4 | -1.2 |
| Dave Roberts | 27 | pre-arb | 41 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Tom Martin | 29 | pre-arb | 6 | -0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Jeff Tam↔ NYM | 28 | pre-arb | 1 | -0.0 | 0.0 | -0.0 |
| Ricardo Rincon | 29 | pre-arb | 59 | -0.0 | 0.5 | -0.5 |
| Tyler Houston↔ CHC | 28 | arb | 13 | -0.1 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Paul Wagner | 31 | – | 3 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jim Poole↔ PHI | 33 | FA-elig | 3 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Dave Stevens | 29 | – | 5 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jerry Spradlin↔ SFG | 32 | FA-elig | 4 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 |
| Tom Candiotti↔ OAK | 42 | FA-elig | 7 | -0.1 | 1.2 | -1.3 |
| Paul Assenmacher | 38 | FA-elig | 55 | -0.1 | 1.5 | -1.6 |
| Russell Branyan | 23 | pre-arb | 11 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Jason Rakers | 26 | pre-arb | 1 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.3 |
| Chris Turner | 30 | FA-elig | 12 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Jolbert Cabrera | 26 | pre-arb | 30 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Harold Baines↔ BAL | 40 | FA-elig | 28 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.6 |
| Mark Whiten | 32 | FA-elig | 8 | -0.2 | 0.5 | -0.7 |
| Jesse Levis | 31 | FA-elig | 10 | -0.3 | 0.4 | -0.7 |
| Pat Borders↔ TOR | 36 | FA-elig | 6 | -0.3 | 0.1 | -0.5 |
| Jim Brower | 26 | – | 9 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Rich DeLucia | 34 | – | 6 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Carlos Baerga↔ SDP | 30 | FA-elig | 22 | -0.5 | 0.2 | -0.9 |
| Enrique Wilson | 25 | pre-arb | 113 | -0.9 | 0.2 | -1.3 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Roberto Alomar | 7.3 |
| Sean DePaula | 0.5 |
| Chris Haney | 0.5 |
| Mark Langston | 0.3 |
| Wil Cordero | 0.3 |
| John McDonald | 0.2 |
| Player | 1998 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Brian Giles | 4.0 |
| Doug Jones | 0.7 |
| David Bell | 0.5 |
| Chad Ogea | 0.4 |
| Alvin Morman | 0.3 |
| Eric Plunk | 0.2 |
What the front office was committed to as of 1999, 1999–2005. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.
| Player | Age | Svc | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Thome | 28 | 8.000 | $8.2M | $8.2M | $7.9M | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Kenny Lofton | 32 | 8.000 | $7.5M | $7.5M | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Roberto Alomar | 31 | 11.000 | $7.0M | $7.2M | $7.8M | FREE AGENT | |||
| David Justice | 33 | 10.000 | $7.0M | $3.7M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Charles Nagy | 32 | 9.000 | $6.0M | $6.0M | $6.0M | $6.0M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Travis Fryman | 30 | 9.000 | $5.2M | $5.5M | $5.8M | $5.8M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Dave Burba | 32 | 9.000 | $4.7M | $5.0M | $5.0M | $1.3M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Manny Ramirez | 27 | 6.000 | $4.3M | $4.2M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Omar Vizquel | 32 | 10.000 | $3.0M | $3.0M | $3.0M | $4.5M | $5.5M | $6.0M | FREE AGENT |
| Sandy Alomar Jr. | 33 | 11.000 | $2.8M | $2.7M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Dwight Gooden | 34 | 15.000 | $2.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mike Jackson | 34 | 13.000 | $2.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Paul Assenmacher | 38 | 13.000 | $1.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Steve Reed | 34 | 7.000 | $1.4M | $1.6M | $891k | FREE AGENT | |||
| Tom Candiotti | 42 | 16.000 | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chris Haney | 30 | 8.000 | $550k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Steve Karsay | 27 | 6.000 | $500k | $1.2M | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Wil Cordero | 27 | 7.000 | $500k | $1.5M | $2.7M | $3.8M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Mark Whiten | 32 | 9.000 | $450k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jesse Levis | 31 | 7.000 | $400k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Harold Baines | 40 | 19.000 | $359k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark Langston | 38 | 15.000 | $350k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chris Turner | 30 | 6.000 | $300k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Carlos Baerga | 30 | 9.000 | $200k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Pat Borders | 36 | 11.000 | $135k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jerry Spradlin | 32 | 6.000 | $44k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jim Poole | 33 | 9.000 | $28k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Rich DeLucia | 34 | 9.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jeff Manto | 34 | 9.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Paul Wagner | 31 | 7.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Shuey | 28 | 5.000 | $1.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Einar Díaz | 26 | 3.000 | $209k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Jacob Cruz | 26 | 3.000 | $205k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Tyler Houston | 28 | 3.000 | $82k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Dave Stevens | 29 | 5.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaret Wright | 23 | 2.000 | $812k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Bartolo Colon | 26 | 2.000 | $625k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Ricardo Rincon | 29 | 2.000 | $450k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Tom Martin | 29 | 2.000 | $225k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Richie Sexson | 24 | 2.000 | $219k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Enrique Wilson | 25 | 2.000 | $214k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Alex Ramirez | 24 | 1.000 | $205k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jason Rakers | 26 | 1.000 | $203k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jolbert Cabrera | 26 | 1.000 | $203k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Russell Branyan | 23 | 1.000 | $202k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Sean DePaula | 25 | 0.000 | $200k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Dave Roberts | 27 | 0.000 | $200k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| David Riske | 22 | 0.000 | $200k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jeff Tam | 28 | 1.000 | $21k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jim Brower | 26 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| John McDonald | 24 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Guardians 1999; 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.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
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