Hurrah. The Dodgers have moved back into a tie for first place with the Arizona Diamondbacks atop the National League West, and now it’s clear they could win the division and make the playoffs.

Meaning the urge to “do something” to make an imperfect team better … will be profound.

Get another hitter. Find a shortstop. Secure another pitcher, if Brad Penny doesn’t get back soon.

GM Ned Colletti will be faced with decisions of this sort: How to make the team better, and secure a postseason berth, now that it plainly is in contention?

My main advice is this:

Don’t do anything rash.

The Dodgers aren’t very good. That’s why they are 45-46. They just happen to play in the worst division in baseball, where 45-46 is enough to get a share of first place.

When surveying the holes in the team, and considering trades, Colletti will be asked to part with one or two or three of the franchise’s good young players. He should resist the impulse to send those guys away.

Some thoughts on the situation.

1. Nomar Garciaparra almost certainly will hurt himself in the short-term, but for now he’s an acceptable answer at shortstop, after four seasons away from the position. He doesn’t have any range left, but he makes the basic plays, his arm is decent, and he is showing some leadership out there — which is what you expect from your shortstop. He also hits at least a little, not something the Dodgers’ can expect from their other (healthy) shortstops — Angel Berroa and Luis Maza.

2. Even with Jason Schmidt out for now (and maybe forever), and Brad Penny hurting … stick with the starting pitching you have — Derek Lowe, Hiroki Kuroda, Chad Billingsley, Chan Ho Park, Eric Stults. A real pitcher, of the Sabathia/Harden type, will cost too much (in talent and cash) … and somebody else’s No. 4 or No. 5 starter would be no better than Park of Stults have been.

3. Play Kemp and Ethier every day. They both can get only better with experience. Though Ethier will struggle, from time to time, and Kemp’s dunderheaded-ness (watching him run the bases is painful, and his idea of the strike zone falls short of “cursory”) will test Joe Torre’s patience. These guys have up sides. They must be allowed to explore them.

4. Give Andruw Jones another week or so, then start platooning him with, say, Delwyn Young, who I’m convinced can be a competent big-league hitter.

5. Do not, under any circumstances, trade the following: Kemp, Loney, Ethier, Billingsley, Kershaw, Broxton. And Russell Martin, of course. They all are bargains, will be so for years, and represent the future. LaRoche can be sent away, or Blake DeWitt, but not both. I like DeWitt, but I doubt he will hit for much power, and the homer-starved Dodgers need a 3B capable of hitting 20 a year.

The Dodgers aren’t that good. They could be better next year, if they re-sign Furcal, and he is healthy, and when the kids are a year older. Heck, maybe even Schmidt will be back from two years of rehabbing.

They could win the NL West with what they have. The division is that bad. And maybe they get lucky in the postseason, as the Cardinals did a few years ago when they finished barely over .500. That’s not the way to bet, but in a series of short series … weird stuff can happen.

Remember, it’s not as if the Dodgers have charged to the top. It’s that the Diamondbacks have come back to them. (The Dodgers are 19-19 since May 30; the D-Backs are 17-30 since May 20.)

The Dodgers shouldn’t think they’re one player away from being a 90-victory team. They aren’t. They can, however, consider themselves very very lucky to be in the NL West in 2008. Just enjoy it. Don’t tear up the young core. That way, the Dodgers might actually be able to compete in the next few years, where 90 victories might be required.