Our GSI Mock Draft is going on right now and I'm glad I'm participating in this. I've learned some trends and made a mistake that when my real draft(s) get here, I don't plan on repeating. In Round Two, I chose Brandon Phillips. While taking him 18th overall isn't outrageous (his ADP is 19 by several different rankings), I took him for the categories he provides. I'm pleased with that. Phillips was, afterall, a 30/30 guy and in a 5x5 roto league, that's valuable. But, I was also patting myself on the back initially for getting the second best 2B as I thought it was a weak position (as it has been in years past). Then I started looking further at 2B and I'd say it's one of the deepest positions in baseball. You can get bargains and steals as well as up-and-coming talent at that position and wait until much later to snag them.

Had I replaced Phillips with someone like Josh Beckett or Brandon Webb or even Erik Bedard, I would have a legit #1 starter. As it stands now, while there's still gobs of good pitchers available, I don't have an ace.

Here's a list of good second basemen who you can get later in your draft and some of their "projected" stats. When you see how they stack up to Utley and Phillips, you'll see there's a definite tier, but that the drop off is not that severe.

--Ian Kinsler 20+ HRs 70+ RBIs, 20+ SBs.
--Aaron Hill 20+ HRs 70+ RBIs and is also SS eligible
--Kelly Johnson 20+ HRs 70+ RBIs 10 SBs
--Jayson Nix 15+ HRs 50+ RBIs 10+ SBs (super sleeper)

Then there's still some other 2B out there who you wouldn't be ashamed to have as your starter like Placido Polanco (who hit .340 last year by the way), Dan Uggla and his power potential (although expect a drop off without Cabrera in the lineup), Brian Roberts (who had a career high 50 SBs last year but is rumored to be on the trading block), Rickie Weeks (who still has tons of potential) and the AL Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia, not to mention other notables like Jeff Kent (still a decent hitter), Orlando Hudson (consistent) and Kaz Matsui (a possible nab for SBs).

So there are 12  mentioned here, plus the two elite 2Bs (already drafted early in our mock draft) in Phillips and Utley and you have 14 pretty good candidates to start at 2B on your fantasy squad. Even in a deep 12 team league, there's good second basemen to be had, so don't waste the pick early simply because you think you have to grab a good second baseman. In fact, I'd say I'm firmly in the camp of never drafting for position need and drafting to fill weaknesses in your categories.