Dodgers: Freddie Freeman Holds Edge Over Goldschmidt in MVP Polling Among Fans

In a poll of mostly Dodger fans, Freddie Freeman beat out Paul Goldschmidt for National League Most Valuable Player.

The National League Most Valuable Player race got a lot more interesting over the final month of the season, as Paul Goldschmidt, the presumptive winner for most of the season, sputtered to the finish line with a .689 OPS over his final 33 games.

Goldschmidt still finished with a sizable lead in OPS, .981 to Freddie Freeman's .918, but it was a lot closer than anyone imagined it would be when Goldy had a 1.059 OPS in mid-August.

What we're left with is an MVP race that is much closer than it seemed like it might be.

Unsurprisingly, a poll of mostly Dodger fans came out in favor of Freeman.

Who do you think should win the NL MVP award? #MLB #DNpolls

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) October 6, 2022

The fact that even 26% of Dodger fans voted for Goldschmidt underscores just how impressive his season was. Nolan Arenado actually has a slight edge in both the Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs versions of Wins Above Replacement, and Manny Machado leads them both (again, slightly) in FanGraphs WAR. Freeman and GoldSchmidt are tied on FanGraphs at 7.1 WAR, with both of them taking a big position hit as first basemen. (Simply put, it's harder to post a high WAR as a first baseman because it's a much easier defensive position to play and therefore easier to "replace.")

Machado was the most commonly mentioned "Other" in the comments, with most people pointing to his value compared to his teammates. Goldschmidt and Arenado had each other, and Freeman had a whole host of outstanding teammates. The Machado narrative says the Padres wouldn't have even made the postseason without him, and there's some merit to that.

Let's face it, the MVP is usually based on offense, and Freeman was second to Goldschmidt in OPS, wRC+, wOBA, and all the other acronym stats you can find. Freeman led the league in hits, doubles, runs, on-base percentage, and times on base.

Goldschmidt and Freeman will likely finish 1-2 in the voting, and the final results will probably end up being a lot closer than we would have guessed in August.