Could Dodgers go from veteran middle infield to MLB’s youngest?

Hang onto those kids. They’re the future. They’re what you build upon.

That has been the Dodgers’ stated goal since the day Stan Kasten and Guggenheim showed up, committed to bringing in expensive players to make the team immediately competitive while building a farm system to sustain excellence.

Last year they hired Andrew Friedman as the new head of baseball operations, and he and likewise new General Manager Farhan Zaidi, swung a pair of multi-player deals that brought them veterans Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick.

With Rollins at short and Kendrick at second, a previously spotty defense became one of baseball’s best.

Now could the Dodgers go from having one of the most veteran units up the middle to its youngest?

Both Rollins, 36, and Kendrick, 32, completed the final year of their existing contracts this season and can become free agents.

It’s pretty well understood that phenom Corey Seager will be the Dodgers’ shortstop in 2016, and with Kendrick’s situation uncertain, they could be looking at a second baseman of either Enrique Hernandez or prospect Jose Peraza.

Hernandez, 24, is valued as a utility player and could also conceivably land in a platoon in center with Joc Pederson. Peraza, 21, came to the Dodgers from the Braves as part of the Hector Olivera trade.

He’s young and fast. He’s averaged .302 in five minor-league seasons and twice stolen over 60 bases a season. Of course, if they wanted a young second baseman who could hit and steal bases, they could have kept batting champion Dee Gordon.

It’s a long ways from Rollins and Kendrick, to Seager and either Peraza or Hernandez. Rollins and Kendrick have played in over 3,400 career games; Seager and Peraza have played in 34 games. That might be too much an infusion of youth. They could move Justin Turner to second, but then they’d need a third baseman.

The free-agent market is empty at third, and there’s not much else at second, although this Daniel Murphy character will be available. The Dodgers would probably like Kendrick back, but if he’s after four-plus years, his age would probably work against him for a front office that has not welcomed long contracts to older players.

Their one-year solution in the middle of the infield has left them with intriguing questions for 2016.

Twitter: @stevedilbeck