Probably the only thing sillier than most of these awards is drawing them out by naming finalists, but here you go. McCutchen has been named a finalist for the NL MVP award, along with Buster Posey, Ryan Braun, Yadier Molina and Chase Headley. Given the Pirates' collapse, I wouldn't expect McCutchen to be taken particularly seriously as a candidate, and it isn't as if he was head and shoulders above the rest of the candidates anyway. (Well, maybe he was head and shoulders above Molina.) So I would expect that this is where it ends. If that's the case, of course, it was still a heck of a season for McCutchen.

The winner will be announced November 15.