The question: How long can the Dodgers go with underperforming hitters dotting their lineup and guys hitting under .240 in the three-hole?

The answer: until right about now.

This weekend, the Dodgers made two personnel moves and a few lineup shifts that completed the chapter on a few players and pointed toward rewarding early-season success and moving on from players who no longer could contribute — even in providing depth.

Alex Guerrero got straight DFA’d. The Dodgers swallowed almost $50 million over the past week, and it was totally the right choice. By Owen Main

Last week, the team announced it was designating Alex Guerrero for assignment. Guerrero, whose bat showed some promise at the beginning of 2015, could never find a defensive position. Guerrero’s contract guaranteed him $28 million, of which probably less than half is still owed. At this point, the team essentially would rather have him out of their organization than to try to help him continue to improve. In 16 games in the minors this season, the 29 year-old hit just .136 with a single home run, 14 strikeouts and two walks in 68 plate appearances spread between three levels.

The remaining financial commitment to Carl Crawford, who they designated today for assignment, is more substantial. A 14 year veteran, Crawford is still owed about $35 million. But this season has been tough for the 35 year-old. He his just .185 in 30 games and his OPS+ stands at 30. To contextualize that, a 100 is average and anything below 75 is considered poor. Again, Crawford’s was 30 this season with the Dodgers. It’s hard to say a guy who is almost exactly my age is over the hill, but it was time for CC to move on.

On the same day the team made the Crawford move, Trayce Thompson batted third and played right field. I don’t believe Thompson is likely to be a long-term option at that lineup spot, but finally — FINALLY — the Dodgers didn’t have somebody hitting under .225 in that role. Finally, Dave Roberts and co. seem to be placing some import on what players have done so far this year. After all, we are about a third of the way through the 2016 season.

Guys who were struggling also had a nice weekend feasting on Braves pitching. Yasmani Grandal hit a home run, Howie Kendrick’s bat looks good, and Justin Turner had a few hits on Saturday night before he got a day off on Sunday — a proven recipe to keep him on-track. Scott Van Slyke is off the DL, and there’s hope that Yasiel Puig can find some semblance of his stroke while on the 15 day disabled list. Cal Poly grad Casey Fien has done a fine job in Dodger blue so far. Maybe he can be a long-term solution in middle relief.

As if that weren’t enough, Brett Anderson is well into his rehab… .

Day 2: Throwing went well again and my ability to perspire a lot hasn't subsided any.

— Brett Anderson (@BrettAnderson35) June 4, 2016

Stay sweaty, Brett.

Any way you look at it, this season is starting to look up. It’s nice to have enough depth to replace an outfielder you hoped could help. It’s nice to be able to swallow almost $50 million for two guys who aren’t helping you. Letting things play out with Crawford and Guerrero won’t hurt the Dodgers’ chances this season. They’re 3 1/2  or 4 games behind the Giants with over 100 games to play. Sounds doable.

Alex Guerrero has been really good for the Dodgers in limited time so far this season. By Owen Main

Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy battled through seven innings, despite giving up four home runs. Alex Guerrero and Joc Pederson each had two RBI’s. Andre Ethier doubled in his only at-bat of the game, scoring the winning run on Guerrero’s 10th-inning single, and the Dodgers won a game they probably shouldn’t have, 6-5 over the Mariners.

If the team had old management in place for the better part of the last year, none of those players might have even been in the lineup.

Andrew Friedman went out and spent good money on McCarthy, a guy with some injury history, to bolster the rotation. Despite the four homers he surrendered, McCarthy had really good sixth and seventh innings, giving the team a chance to get back in the game.

Trading Matt Kemp opened a spot for Joc Pederson, who has been generally as-advertised. Pederson will surely go through a rookie slump at some point, but for now he’s a solid contributor to wins. His .877 OPS in his first seven games this season is a nice thing to see after the struggles he had in 18 regular season games last year. Yeah, sample sizes are still small, but I’m encouraged.

Moving on, Alex Guerrero is a player who people made noise about this offseason. He hadn’t developed defensively. People wondered, was he even going to make the big league club?

Andre Ethier’s ability to be effective and willing as a fourth or fifth outfielder will be crucial to the Dodgers’ success this year. By Owen Main

Guerrero has shown that his bat plays in the majors. Whether he ends up at second or third-base in the long term, he’s showing himself as a more-than-adequate replacement for Juan Uribe at third base. He’s not as good defensively, but I wonder what some consistent playing time does for a player like Guerrero.

Guerrero’s ability to play third base gives the Dodgers the option to have other utility guys get maximum value. Justin Turner and Darwin Barney can do what they do — filling in up the middle. Scott Van Slyke can be a fifth outfielder and back-up first baseman. Man, this team is just really nicely balanced.

Lastly, Ethier’s role is probably the most interesting this season. He’s sure to get his share of at-bats. Mattingly has said he doesn’t expect Ethier to be happy in his backup role, and Ethier shouldn’t be. Ethier’s loss in playing time is the Dodgers’ gain in being able to send him up for high-leverage at-bats whenever they want. When he’s dialed-in, Ethier is a dangerous hitter, and the Dodgers can deploy him however they want.

I see a guy like Ethier getting some significant playing time come September and October. Baseball teams always have attrition and having a guy like Ethier to fill a backup role is pretty awesome.

All in all, this was the most encouraging win of the season for me. Last year, with Miguel Rojas or whoever playing third base in Uribe’s absence, I don’t know that the Dodgers could have dug themselves out of the hole a starting pitcher created. It’s great for a team to get wins like this early in the year. After last night’s win, the Dodgers sit at 4-3 on the season, but the combination of confidence and momentum a team gets from a game like last night’s can be a heck of a thing.