When you think of deep positions in fantasy baseball, the obvious ones -- outfield, first base and starting pitcher -- come to mind.

Second base? Not so much.

That has certainly been the case the last couple of years, though. When I was researching all of the positions for a (ridiculously early) top 100 overall, eight of the top 80 were second basemen. That matches the total at first base. (I'm counting only the players whose primary position is first or second, not all eligible players at each position.)

Our eighth-ranked second baseman in 2012 is the Brewers' Rickie Weeks, who batted only .269 with 49 RBI last season, but hit 20 home runs. In 2010, Weeks had 29 homers, 83 RBI, 11 steals and 112 runs scored.

Our No. 7 second baseman is the Braves' Dan Uggla, who hit 36 homers and scored 88 runs last season, and has averaged 32 homers, 91 RBI and 98 runs in his six-year career.

A player who just missed the cut in the top 100 (which will be unveiled shortly; please hold your applause until the end) is the Angels' Howard Kendrick. Our No. 9 second baseman batted .285 with 18 homers, 86 runs and 14 steals last year.

Without further delay, our top second basemen ...

Note: All players are ranked at the positions at which they are expected to spend the most time in 2012, not all positions at which they are eligible. ... Stats are from 2011.

Rank, player, team R-HR-RBI-SB-Avg.
1. Robinson Cano, Yankees 104-28-118-8-.302
2. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 102-21-91-26-.307
3. Ian Kinsler, Rangers 121-32-77-30-.255
4. Brandon Phillips, Reds 94-18-82-14-.300
5. Chase Utley, Phillies 54-11-44-14-.259
6. Ben Zobrist, Rays 99-20-91-19-.269
7. Dan Uggla, Braves 88-36-82-1-.23
8. Rickie Weeks, Brewers 77-20-49-9-.269
9. Howard Kendrick, Angels 86-18-63-14-.285
10. Dustin Ackley, Mariners 39-6-36-6-.273
11. Neil Walker, Pirates 76-12-83-9-.273
12. Danny Espinosa, Nationals 72-21-66-17-.236
13. Jemile Weeks, Athletics 50-2-36-22-.303
14. Jason Kipnis, Indians 24-7-19-5-.272
15. Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks 61-8-61-21-.246
16. Kelly Johnson, Blue Jays 75-21-58-16-.222
17. Daniel Murphy, Mets 49-6-49-5-.320
18. Brian Roberts, Orioles 18-3-19-6-.221
19. Gordon Beckham, White Sox 60-10-44-5-.230
20. Omar Infante, Marlins 55-7-49-4-.276

Last three out: Marco Scutaro, Rockies; Jose Altuve, Astros; Darwin Barney, Cubs.

Eligibility notes: Zobrist could play a lot at first base and in the outfield, but he primarily was a second baseman in 2011. ... Arizona's versatile Ryan Roberts should be eligible here, but we have him ranked No. 12 at third base.

Key stats: In the last two seasons, Cano has norms of 29 homers, 114 RBI and 103 runs. He gets the nod over Pedroia because of his power.

PREVIOUS: Catchers, first basemen

NEXT: Shortstops

Meaningless trivia question of the day: Aside from first base, which infield position features the most top 100 overall players?

Since you’ve already read the headline on this blog, the answer is more obvious than the contempt many baseball fans have for Tim McCarver.

Otherwise, would you have guessed second base has 10 top-100 players (at least in our opinion), compared to nine for third base and six for shortstop?

The position has only one top-20 pick — the Phillies’ Chase Utley, who should go off the board in the top five — but it’s stacked with talent from Round 3 on.

The top 10 second basemen on the list below feature:

-- Four players with 31 or more home runs last season.

-- Seven with 25-plus homers.

-- Six with 90 or more RBI.

-- Five with 20-plus stolen bases.

-- Six with more than 100 runs scored.

The top 10, on average, batted .281 with 26 homers, 90 RBI, 97 runs and 16 steals last season.

You don’t want to wait too long to select one, however, since there’s a pretty big difference between Robinson Cano at No. 4 and Jose Lopez at No. 10.

A player outside the top 10 who could have a big impact is the White Sox’s Gordon Beckham, who had 58 runs, 14 homers and 63 RBI in 378 at-bats as a rookie last season. The 23-year-old was drafted eighth overall by Chicago in 2008 and was promoted to the big leagues after only 233 minor-league at-bats.

On to the rankings:

Rank, player: R-HR-RBI-SB-Avg.
1. Chase Utley, Phillies: 112-31-93-23-.282
2. Ian Kinsler, Rangers: 101-31-86-31-.253
3. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: 115-15-72-20-.296
4. Robinson Cano, Yankees: 103-25-85-5-.320
5. Brian Roberts, Orioles: 110-16-79-30-.283
6. Aaron Hill, Blue Jays: 103-36-108-6-.286
7. Brandon Phillips, Reds: 78-20-98-25-.276
8. Ben Zobrist, Rays: 91-27-91-17.297
9. Dan Uggla, Marlins: 84-31-90-2-.243
10. Jose Lopez, Mariners: 69-25-96-3-.272
11. Howie Kendrick, Angels: 61-10-61-11-.291
12. Gordon Beckham, White Sox: 58-14-63-7-.270
13. Martin Prado, Braves: 64-11-49-1-.307
14. Orlando Hudson, Twins: 74-9-62-8-.283
15. Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 28-9-24-2-.272
16. Clint Barmes, Rockies: 69-23-76-12-.245
17. Kelly Johnson, Diamondbacks: 47-8-29-7-.224
18. Freddy Sanchez, Giants: 56-7-41-5-.293
19. Luis Castillo, Mets: 77-1-40-20-.302
20. Kazuo Matsui, Astros: 56-9-46-19-.250

Preseason top 100 players (10): Utley (5), Kinsler (22), Pedroia (25), Cano (39), Roberts (49), Hill (54), Phillips (57), Zobrist (74), Uggla (91), Lopez (98)

Short hops
Utley has averaged 29 homers, 101 RBI and 15 steals the last five seasons. ... Kinsler batted .319 in 2008, but is a career .279 hitter. ... Roberts has stolen 156 bases the last four years. ... Hill’s 36 homers last season were eight more than his combined total from 2005-08, a span in which he went deep 28 times in 1,728 at-bats. ... Phillips, a former Indian, has norms of 24 homers, 90 RBI and 27 steals the last three seasons. ... Uggla is a very good source of power and runs scored, but he won’t help you in average (.257 career) and he’ll hurt you in points leagues that penalize for strikeouts (611 in four seasons). ... Weeks is an intriguing prospect who can rack up steals (a combined 44 in 2007 and ’08), but he’s yet to live up to the hype. ... The Diamondbacks’ Johnson could be a late-round find if he produces like it’s 2007 or 2008 (when he had combined totals of 28 homers, 137 RBI, 177 runs and 20 steals with the Braves).

NOTE: Statistics are from the 2009 season. ... Positions listed are according to the depth charts at mlb.com.

THIS WEEK: Catchers, Tuesday; first baseman, Thursday; second baseman, today.

NEXT WEEK: Shortstops, third basemen and designated hitters