The National League Most Valuable Player finalists were announced on Monday, and it was most notable because of one name that wasn’t on the list: Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. Instead, the three finalists are Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Manny Machado.
In these awards, the “finalists” are simply the top three vote-getters. The winner has already been determined, and this is the league’s way of drawing out the anticipation. The winner will almost surely be Goldschmidt, who led the NL in OPS and was right near the lead in both versions of WAR.