Andrew McCutchen named finalist for award that still doesn't make any sense

Andrew McCutchen has been named a finalist for the National League Gold Glove award for center field, along with Michael Bourn and Drew Stubbs. It's nice to see McCutchen receive some recognition for his hitting like this. I doubt this has much at all to do with his fielding, which was passable at best. I thought at one time that McCutchen had the tools to be a good centerfielder, but that hasn't really happened. I don't think most Pirates fans think he's a very good centerfielder, either.

All you can really do here is to shrug and grit your teeth a bit. McCutchen winning an award he doesn't deserve wouldn't do Pirates fans any favors. Remember how annoying it was when Nate McLouth won one, and you had to respond to "ALL-STAR GOLD-GLOVER!" every time you pointed out that McLouth wasn't actually a very good centerfielder?

The Pirate who got jobbed here was, of course, Clint Barmes, who probably hit too badly and didn't play on a good enough team to make it, but who might have been the best defensive shortstop in the National League this year. He was certainly the key to the Pirates' surprisingly efficient defense this season. The finalists at shortstop were Zack Cozart, Ian Desmond, Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes. I have no idea what Reyes is doing on that list.