NEW YORK — Freddie Freeman couldn’t help himself when asked by a reporter about the pending returns of Blake Snell, Edwin Díaz and Kiké Hernández, who could soon come off the injured list.“Nice trade deadline, huh?” Freeman quipped.Indeed, one could argue the return of three key Dodgers, along with Tyler Glasnow, over the next few weeks would improve the roster more than almost any deadline deal the Dodgers could make. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had hoped to go into this year’s Aug. 3 deadline without any clear needs. That appears to be the case. The Dodgers feel confident heading into the final two months of the regular season, even with Shohei Ohtani temporarily out of the rotation, Will Smith’s prolonged neck injury and Snell and Glasnow’s extended absences.“I don’t think our approach to the deadline has changed given these last three weeks of Shohei,” manager Dave Roberts said Sunday, before an 8-3 loss to the New York Mets.The Dodgers will remain engaged on Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal if he becomes available on the trade market. But with several players nearing returns from the IL, Los Angeles could move some of its major-league depth pieces to take advantage of the market. Starting pitching is always at a premium this time of year, and the shortage of right-handed bats available this deadline could also work in their favor.Left-hander Eric Lauer and outfielder Alex Call are two names the Dodgers could shop, according to multiple league sources familiar with the team’s thinking, who were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor. Lauer played a critical role for most of the first half. When Snell and Tyler went down with injuries in the same week in mid-May, the Dodgers needed a back-end starter to eat innings and keep their six-man rotation on track. They traded cash for Lauer after he was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays, and quickly turned him into another textbook Dodgers reclamation project. Since coming to Los Angeles, Lauer has posted a 3.35 ERA over 45 2/3 innings in eight appearances (seven starts).The outside perception is that the Dodgers would be wise to hold onto Lauer for depth purposes. Snell and Glasnow have missed most of the season, and there’s no timetable for Ohtani’s return to the rotation. But the Dodgers have their eyes set on October and believe their pitching depth is set up to be the strongest yet of this dynastic run. With a projected rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow, plus a bullpen that includes Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski, Díaz and Tanner Scott, it’s hard to argue against that reasoning. Lauer, for as effective as he’s been, wouldn’t crack the playoff rotation and would be a stretch to make the cut as a reliever.How many players will the Mets trade by the deadline?Ken Rosenthal and Johnny SweetIt’s similar to last year’s thinking with Dustin May, though Lauer (31) is much older. May was 27 when the Dodgers swapped him in a deadline trade for outfield prospects James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard. Still, Lauer is a consistent veteran with postseason experience and will be a free agent at the end of the year. With Los Angeles looking to bulk up its minor-league system — middle infield, catching and upper-level starting pitching especially — trading Lauer could be an avenue to do so.Trading Call could do the same. With Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández healthy, and Kiké Hernandez set to be activated off the IL on Tuesday, Call’s spot on the roster is now redundant. There are few right-handed bats available, and while Call wouldn’t be considered a power bat, his speed and plate discipline give him value as a depth piece for contending teams — as evidenced by the Dodgers trading for him last deadline.