| Central | W | L | Pct | GB |
| Minnesota | 87 | 76 | .534 | -- |
| Detroit | 86 | 77 | .528 | 1.0 |
| Chi White Sox | 79 | 83 | .488 | 7.5 |
| Cleveland | 65 | 97 | .401 | 21.5 |
| KC Royals | 65 | 97 | .401 | 21.5 |
| Player | Pos | Age | Salary | Avg? | Lg Rank | |
| Magglio Ordonez | RF | 35 | $ 18,971,596 | 7 | ||
| Miguel Cabrera | 3B | 26 | $ 14,383,049 | 27 | ||
| Jeremy Bonderman | P | 26 | $ 12,500,000 | 48 | ||
| Carlos Guillen | 2B | 33 | $ 10,000,000 | 80 | ||
| Dontrelle Willis | P | 27 | $ 10,000,000 | 87 | ||
| Jarrod Washburn | P | 34 | $ 9,850,000 | 89 | ||
| Aubrey Huff | 1B | 32 | $ 8,000,000 | |||
| Nate Robertson | P | 31 | $ 7,000,000 | |||
| Brandon Inge | 3B | 32 | $ 6,300,000 | |||
| Placido Polanco | 3B | 33 | $ 4,600,000 | |||
| Brandon Lyon | P | 29 | $ 4,250,000 | |||
| Justin Verlander | P | 26 | $ 3,675,000 | |||
| Curtis Granderson | CF | 28 | $ 3,500,000 | |||
| Gerald Laird | C | 29 | $ 2,800,000 | |||
| Fernando Rodney | P | 28 | $ 2,700,000 | |||
| Marcus Thames | LF | 32 | $ 2,275,000 | |||
| Edwin Jackson | P | 25 | $ 2,200,000 | |||
| Rick Porcello | P | 20 | $ 2,095,000 | |||
| Bobby Seay | P | 31 | $ 1,300,000 | |||
| Adam Everett | 3B | 32 | $ 1,000,000 | |||
| Ramon Santiago | 2B | 29 | $ 825,000 | |||
| Juan Rincon | P | 30 | $ 750,000 | |||
| Matt Treanor | C | 33 | $ 750,000 | |||
| Joel Zumaya | P | 24 | $ 735,000 | |||
| Zach Miner | P | 27 | $ 437,500 | |||
| Armando Galarraga | P | 27 | $ 435,000 | |||
| Jeff Larish | LF-1B | 26 | $ 403,000 | |||
| Josh Anderson | OF | 26 | $ 400,000 | |||
| Eddie Bonine | P | 28 | $ 400,000 | |||
| Ryan Perry | P | 22 | $ 400,000 |