Matt Klaassen

mattklaassen

Matt Klaassen lives in the Greater Toronto Area, where he spends most of his time reading and writing obituaries. For some reason, he is allowed to write for FanGraphs several times a week. If you just can't get enough of Matt, you can also follow him on Twitter.

Recent Posts

Fogging the Measure: 22 Infallible Predictions for 2013

Posted by Matt Klaassen under Fogging The Measure, Jeff Francoeur on Apr 04, 2013

Kansas City Royals v Chicago White Sox

It has been a long time coming. The winter was long and difficult. The anticipation was exhausting. The off-season debates were wearing thin. But finally, this week, relief: Fogging the Measure, North America’s most pretentious and 9,835th most-beloved semi-sabermetric blog feature is back!

[HOLDS FOR APPLAUSE]

The season has already started, so it seems a bit too late to give my INFALLIBLE PREDICTIONS for the 2013 baseball season, but here we are. No phony humility for me. Yeah, there will be more detailed stuff to follow, but I gotta get this stuff out there so at the end of the season I can point out how right I was about everything. Because when a saber-friendly blogger projects something to happen, he or she means it is definitely going to happen. Ergo, if that thing doesn’t happen, sabermetrics is disproven, right?

So here they are, a few INFALLIBLE PREDICTIONS about the 2013 baseball season, both on the field, off the field, and in cyberspace.

Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

Fogging the Measure: Caring About The Gold Gloves

Posted by Matt Klaassen under Defense Matters, Fogging The Measure on Oct 30, 2012

It isn’t cool to care about awards anymore. We all know who the real most valuable player in the American League is, we don’t need the BBWWWWWAAAAAA (I think that’s right) to tell us.

Even further down the priority list of Concerns for Hip Bloggers are the Gold Gloves. Sure, they are chosen (at least nominally) by baseball managers who know the game. The clearly ridiculous choices of the past (Rafael Palmeiro? Derek Jeter? Michael Never Complains Young?) only confirm the impression some writers give: the managers basically are wracking their brains at the end of the year, just trying to think up the names of fielders on other teams since they can’t vote for their own.

It doesn’t help matters that voting occurs at a time of the year when other things are on their mind. It is unlikely to be high priority. It would not surprise me if some managers simply go to their team’s public relations flack to fill out their ballots.

I suppose I understand the apathy – or, as I suspect, the posture of apathy – among many bloggers and writers about the Gold Gloves. However, I am here to tell you that I care.

Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments

Fogging the Measure: Five Thoughts Around Marco Scutaro

Posted by Matt Klaassen under Fogging The Measure, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays on Oct 23, 2012

The San Francisco Giants are in the World Series, and just as everyone thought, Marco Scutaro was the hero. Wait, who?

Yeah, Marco Scutaro, whose 500/.533/.607 line in the National League Championship Series would have been enough to thrust him into the spotlight even if he had not endured a brutal breakup slide by Matt Holliday in Game One. As a tribute to Scutaro’s performance, here are a few relevant thoughts on a spectacularly normal Major League regular.

Read the rest of this entry »

7 Comments

Fogging the Measure: The Tigers’ Catcher Platoon

Posted by Matt Klaassen under Alex Avila, Detroit Tigers, Fogging The Measure, Gerald Laird on Oct 16, 2012

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland has come under a bit of fire lately, mostly for his late game bullpen management, or mismanagement if you (like Miguel Cabrera) prefer.

However, as it is with any manager, Leyland has both good and bad characteristics. The marginal difference he makes relative to other managers is very difficult (or virtually impossible, depending on how one parses the situation) to measure. One thing beyond how he has chosen to use his relievers that has stood out to me is how he’s kept his two catchers – Alex Avila and Gerald Laird – in a platoon through the postseason.

Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments

Fogging the Measure: Brian “TOOZ” Matusz is Awesome Now

Posted by Matt Klaassen under Baltimore Orioles, Brian Matusz, Fogging The Measure, Postseason on Oct 09, 2012

Do you know what would be awesome? If Brian Matusz turned out to be related to 1970s NFL player and semi-famous 1980s actor John “Tooz” Matuszak (Caveman with Ringo Starr and Olivia Newton-John!). What, you don’t remember Tooz? Oh, man, you really missed out. I’m kind of surprised to learn that he isn’t that Ogre guy from Revenge Of The Nerds. No matter, I guess I should probably stick to writing about Brian Matusz.

Last night, the 25-year-old southpaw played a key roll in the Orioles 3-2 victory over the Yankees. Matusz had a bit of a shaky beginning to his appearance, but when he came back out for the eight he got three straight outs after giving up a single. It was a big moment for Matusz, who after being a hot prospect and showing some promise as a starter in 2010, had his pumpkin turn into an unmitigated disaster in 2011. This discouraging trend carried through to this season, until he was transitioned to the bullpen near the end of the regular season by manager Buck Showalter.

In his new role with team, Matusz has pitched very well, and after last night, he obviously looks like a savvy inclusion on the Orioles’ post season roster.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

Fogging the Measure: Catcher Defense Ratings, Final 2012 Edition

Posted by Matt Klaassen under Buster Posey, Fogging The Measure, St. Louis Cardinals, Yadier Molina on Oct 04, 2012

Wow, what a season. And with such a big comeback at the end.

I am referring, of course, to our final look at the Getting Blanked Catcher Defense Ratings for 2012. Was there something else that happened?

When we last examined the rankings, a new leader had emerged. Will his work over the last month of the season hold the tide against the waves of challengers trying to unseat him and claim the title of Getting Blanked’s best defensive catcher? An answer to this, some other random comments, and, crude ratings of the defensive value of every catcher who saw time behind the plate in 2012, all after the jump …

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

Fogging The Measure: Upton Enigma

Posted by Matt Klaassen under B.J Upton, Fogging The Measure, Free Agency on Sep 27, 2012

The list of upcoming free agent position players is what’s politely referred to as interesting. With an increasing number of players signing long-term extensions before they ever meet free agency (and looking at the recent Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Braun, and Joey Votto contracts, why not?), the pickings are increasingly slim, and it looks like it is going to be that way for a while.

Obviously, Josh Hamilton and David Ortiz are two big names on the list, but neither is an obvious high-demand guy like (to stick with just a few examples), say Prince Fielder last year, Carl Crawford the year before (yeah, he really was in demand back then), or Mark Teixeira in the 2008-2009 off-season.

Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »