The middle infield (2B/SS) gets a bad rap as being the thinnest and most difficult position to fill in fantasy baseball. While the sentiment is probably true, it is also an over-generalization that lumps second basemen and shortstops together. Where fantasy owners are hard-pressed to find production beyond the top tier of shortstops, a group of dynamic second basemen is emerging to make filling 2B/SS spots a much easier task.

Waiver wire finds like Mark DeRosa, Mike Aviles (also a SS), Alexei Ramirez and Jose Lopez have added to a group that runs 20 deep with steady, if unspectacular, producers. Ian Kinsler and Chase Utley give the group star power at the top, while the position’s depth can go toe-to-toe with any other in fantasy. The new-found strength has eased the usually excruciating middle infield search, which is a breath of fresh air for fantasy owners everywhere.

Look, you don’t need a middle infielder to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases. All you need is a serviceable, above-average producer who can get you 15 homers and a handful of steals. If this is an area of weakness for your team, you must find one player who can go nose-to-nose with your opponents’ 2B/SS. If the rest of your team is strong and you’ve done a decent job filling the spot, middle infield will not hurt you.

The contention we’ll make is that you are much worse off without a shortstop. If your free agent search is specifically for that part of the infield, replacements are going to be much tougher to come by. The reason? In order to play shortstop at the major league level, you have to be one of the best athletes on the diamond. In order to play shortstop AND be an offensive threat, well, you have to have star qualities.

The tradeoff is made many, many times by major league teams to compromise offense and stick a defensive-minded player out there. This year’s crop includes Adam Everett, Cesar Izturis, Jason Bartlett, Julio Lugo, John MacDonald, Yuniesky Betancourt and Jack Wilson. When half the shortstops in baseball are out there in a defense-first, offense-second (if at all) capacity, pickings can get pretty slim. That’s why shortstop, like catcher, will always be this thin.

Second base, on the other hand, is quietly one of the easier positions to play. A player’s range and arm can be average, or worse, and he can be an adequate second basemen. And that is why you’ll always see a lot of quality offensive players play the position; it simply does not take as much athleticism as you think to make the grade defensively. Cases in point are Florida’s Dan Uggla and Los Angeles’ Jeff Kent, who are both brutal defenders that their teams live with in order to get their bats in the lineup.

So, what’s the lesson in all of this?

First, there’s a good chance that shortstop is always thin. Even during the good eras of shortstops, one third of all major leaguers are unusable in fantasy formats.

Second, life is made a lot easier when you can land a Hanley Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins or Jose Reyes in a draft, but you already knew that.

And third, when the time comes to fill a middle infield flex position, you might as well take shortstop off your list and get right after a second baseman.