The Dodgers could have used a player like Miguel Vargas this year.

Their lineup was starved for power at times and Vargas homered 31 times. Their team was old and Vargas was a 26-year-old All-Star.

Here’s the irony: Just two years ago, the Dodgers had Vargas on their roster.

But the Dodgers didn’t have an open corner-infield position for him. When they failed to turn him into an outfielder, they traded him.

Dealing Vargas wasn’t a mistake.

In the three-team trade that sent him to the Chicago White Sox, the Dodgers received Tommy Edman, who helped them win two World Series. And it’s not as if a position for Vargas would have opened up. Max Muncy remains at third base, Vargas’ primary position. Freddie Freeman is at first.

Talent is only one factor in replacing one generation of players with the next. Timing is equally important.

This will be particularly relevant for the Dodgers as they attempt to turn over their roster in the coming years.

They had the oldest team in the major leagues this year. And while their farm system is considered to be one of the best in baseball, they have a disproportionate number of outfielders among their top prospects, further complicating an already-difficult process.

“A lot of the major-league onboarding is hard,” general manager Brandon Gomes said. “You can only get guys in Double A or Triple A up to the five- or 10-yard line. It’s hard to get them into the end zone to fully understand how to hit the ground running in the big leagues.”

A number of the Dodgers’ minor leaguers are already at the metaphorical red zone.

No. 1 prospect Josue De Paula was called up to the major leagues directly from Double A in September. In 11 regular-season games, he displayed an advanced knowledge of the strike zone for a 21-year-old, which led to him being included in the Dodgers’ postseason roster.

De Paula is an outfielder, as are the organization’s No. 2 and 3 prospects in the MLB Pipeline rankings, 21-year-old Eduardo Quintero and 23-year-old Mike Sirota.

Quintero spent most of this year at High A. Sirota started the season there, too, but finished in Triple A.

The Dodgers’ No. 6 and 7 prospects are also outfielders. Charles Davalan, 22, had a 24-homer season at High A. James Tibbs III, 24, homered 30 times at Triple A.

The major league team currently doesn’t have a vacancy in their starting outfield. Left fielder Teoscar Hernández and right fielder Kyle Tucker are under contract for next season. Center fielder Andy Pages remains under team control.

Tucker has three years and $175 million remaining on his contract, which makes him unmovable. Pages could be rewarded a $5 million salary next season in the arbitration process but would still be a major bargain at that price.

That makes Hernández as the likeliest player to be traded, as he will be entering the final season of his three-year contract. Shipping out Hernández would clear a spot for De Paula, but what about the team’s other outfield prospects?

Gomes pointed to how Davalan has been playing second base in the Arizona Fall League, which is basically a finishing school for top prospects. Increased versatility can better prepare players to take advantage of unexpected opportunities.

“A lot of it is there tends to be injuries or other things that happen where you look up and, ‘Oh, now we’re calling guys up from Double-A to Triple-A to fill time,’” Gomes said. “I think it’s going into a season having a plan and being able to adjust off of that.”

With experience at first base, Tibbs could be an insurance policy of sorts for 37-year-old Freeman.

De Paula, who is a notoriously weak defender, projects more as a designated hitter at this point and could be a backup for Shohei Ohtani.

“Things work themselves out,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “We’ve talked about this a lot. There are times where you wake up one day and you’re too left-handed. You start to address it. Wake up another day and say, ‘Wow, we’re too right-handed now.’ Things happen. Like right now, we have a really talented group of outfielders coming through our minor league system. There have been times where we haven’t. We also have a lot of really talented infielders coming as well, but for us it’s just about having as many many talented players as we can, and things tend to sort themselves out.”

Sometimes they work themselves out with a future All-Star being traded for a player who could be a solid contributor on a championship team.

That happens, Vargas’ case a prime example.