| 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 | |
| Mark Buehrle | P | 30 | $ 14,000,000 | 30 | ||
| Jim Thome | DH | 38 | $ 13,000,000 | 40 | ||
| Paul Konerko | 1B | 33 | $ 12,000,000 | 59 | ||
| Jermaine Dye | RF | 35 | $ 11,500,000 | 66 | ||
| Jake Peavy | P | 28 | $ 11,000,000 | 73 | ||
| Jose Contreras | P | 37 | $ 10,000,000 | 85 | ||
| Alex Rios | RF | 28 | $ 6,400,000 | |||
| A.J. Pierzynski | C | 32 | $ 6,250,000 | |||
| Octavio Dotel | P | 33 | $ 6,000,000 | |||
| Bobby Jenks | P | 28 | $ 5,600,000 | |||
| Scott Linebrink | P | 32 | $ 4,500,000 | |||
| Mike MacDougal | P | 32 | $ 2,650,000 | |||
| Ramon Castro | C | 33 | $ 2,625,000 | |||
| Mark Kotsay | LF | 33 | $ 1,500,000 | |||
| Matt Thornton | P | 32 | $ 1,325,000 | |||
| Wilson Betemit | 3B | 27 | $ 1,300,000 | |||
| Alexei Ramirez | SS | 27 | $ 1,225,000 | |||
| Bartolo Colon | P | 34 | $ 1,000,000 | |||
| Gavin Floyd | P | 26 | $ 750,000 | |||
| Carlos Quentin | LF | 26 | $ 550,000 | |||
| Dewayne Wise | LF-CF | 31 | $ 550,000 | |||
| John Danks | P | 24 | $ 520,000 | |||
| Corky Miller | C | 33 | $ 450,000 | |||
| Brian Anderson | P | 27 | $ 440,000 | |||
| D.J. Carrasco | P | 32 | $ 440,000 | |||
| Tony Pena | P | 27 | $ 430,000 | |||
| Josh Fields | 3B-1B | 26 | $ 410,000 | |||
| Clayton Richard | P | 25 | $ 405,000 | |||
| Brent Lillibridge | 1B-SS | 25 | $ 402,500 | |||
| Chris Getz | 2B | 25 | $ 401,000 | |||
| Jayson Nix | 3B-SS | 26 | $ 400,000 |