Dodger Details: Replenishing the system, Kiké Hernández’s injury and more

PHOENIX — Buried under the billion-dollar winter is a hint of how the Los Angeles Dodgers will have to address the rest of the roster for the foreseeable future.

Just look at how the Dodgers cycled through to clear their roster glut during the winter:

Dec. 11: Traded left-hander Victor González and infielder Jorbit Vivas to the New York Yankees for shortstop Trey Sweeney.

Jan. 3: Traded left-hander Bryan Hudson to the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Justin Chambers.

Jan. 11: Traded right-hander Yency Almonte and infielder Michael Busch to the Chicago Cubs for left-hander Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope.

Feb. 5: Traded left-hander Caleb Ferguson to the New York Yankees for left-hander Matt Gage and right-hander Christian Zazueta.

Monday: Traded outfielder Manuel Margot and infielder Rayne Doncon to the Minnesota Twins for infielder Noah Miller.

That’s a total of seven players traded off the 40-man roster (with Doncon the lone non-40-man player) with just one 40-man player (Matt Gage) coming back in return. Those moves cleared spots for some of the Dodgers’ splashy additions It also allowed the Dodgers, who have lost draft picks and international money due to their extravagant spending, to keep replenishing the cupboard.

Last May, Andy Pages tore his labrum in his shoulder in his first game in Triple A. Now, he’s back and crushing eight months later. Said he gave himself “about 20 minutes” to be upset about the injury.

As for his power bouncing back?

“That will always be there,” he joked.

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) March 2, 2024

The deals netted them a pair of shortstop prospects (Sweeney, Miller) to address a thin position for the farm system, with Sweeney in particular drawing rave reviews this spring. It allowed the Dodgers to move off the final year of Ferguson for another intriguing lefty reliever who has minor-league options. And it allowed a group of prospects primed to age out but blocked on the major-league roster to essentially start fresh.

Maybe dart throws for guys like Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope don’t work out. The value of trading proven big-league-caliber players for prospects always carries risk. But it’s part of how the Dodgers might have to operate to keep the bottom from falling out, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has so often warned.

“There are a lot of cautionary tales of large revenue teams that have had a period of success, and then kind of fallen off of a cliff and had to take time to rebuild,” Friedman said in 2022. “And we’re doing everything we can to stave that off.”

Inking megadeals in free agency through blunt force cash is the most straightforward way of player acquisition. But it can’t be the only way. And though trading from the fringes of the roster to restock with younger fliers is hardly a novel idea, it’s one the Dodgers will have to embrace more frequently as their luxury tax bills become recurring.

The Dodgers have been taxpayers in each of…