COULDN’T SAY NO

Yanks say package for Chapman too good to pass on; can still make run

The Yankees had their Godfather moment — they received an offer they could not refuse. So they didn’t. And dealing closer Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs on Monday isn’t an example of the Yankees kissing off the rest of the season.

“This isn’t a white flag. This is a rearrangement as well as us maximizing the acquisition of Chapman, and we will see where it takes us. I think it was the right move for our franchise,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said on a conference call.

Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine, in particular, were opposed to trading Chapman because it could symbolize surrender. But three factors swayed them:

1. Chapman refused the Yankees’ attempts to talk extension. The lefty said he was sad to leave the Yankees and would strongly consider re-signing, but not before free agency. 2. The Yankees got an elite prospect, Single-A shortstop Gleyber Torres, which met their threshold to deal the closer by assuring the Yankees received far better to move Chapman than the middling package they gave up to get him from the Reds when he was being investigated for domestic abuse. 3. They got Adam Warren back in the deal to at least give them a bullpen piece they trust to try to keep going for one of the two AL wild-card spots. According to Cashman, Steinbrenner wanted very much for Warren to be included.

With those criteria met, the Yankees dealt Chapman to Chicago for Torres, Warren and two lefty-hitting outfielders — Billy McKinney, who is in Double-A, and Rashad Crawford, who is in Single-A.

“I am speaking for myself. This was an easy call and the right call,’’ Cashman said. “Easy because we traded from an area of strength and we are excited about the players we received for someone who obviously was only under control for two more months. We have Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances. We executed a strategy this winter with the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman, an asset that was in distress.’’

Yankees officials do not expect to trade Miller. However, Cashman had active talks to both buy and sell, and how the Yankees play over the days leading to the 4 p.m. Aug. 1 deadline will determine which way they go.

Washington a nd Cl eve l a nd were the other teams talking most seriously to the Yankees about Chapman, but never put a prospect the Ya n ke e s felt matched Torres into the deal despite how much the Nationals clearly prioritized Chapman and how much t he Yankees tried to engage an India ns c l ub t hey feel has an excellent farm system.

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told the Yankees from the outset that their target — Kyle Schwarber — would not be included in any trade, even for the more desirable Miller. The Yankees focus eventually became Torres vs. Eloy Jimenez, a power-hitting 19-year-old, Single-A outf ielder who homered this month in the Futures Game.

The Yanks decided they liked the makeup, high baseball IQ and skill set of the middle infielder more (he has a .791 OPS at SingleA despite being just 19). Their philosophy was to get the best prospect possible for Chapman regardless of position. The Yanks are well-stocked at short in the minors and Torres is expected to join arguably their top prospect, Jorge Mateo, at High-A Tampa. Mateo, who has been playing some second, is expected to play there more regularly now. Shortstops can more easily move to other positions as Manny Machado, Alex Bregman, Jurickson Profar, Javier Baez, Starlin Castro, etc. have all done. Plus, shortstops usually re t ai n strong trade value.

Ca s h man said To r - res will begin playing short for Tampa but eventually may move across the bag.

Warren has a 5.91 ERA between mainly relief and starting and was recently demoted to Triple-A. The Yankees, though, continue to value him as a quality Swiss Army knife of pitching — with the skills to start or do long or short relief. The Yankees earned a wild-card spot last year without Chapman, but with Miller, Betances and Warren as huge pen pieces.

McKinney and Crawford further deepen the Yankees’ trove of lefty-hitting outf ielders that already includes at Double-A or higher: Jake Cave, Dustin Fowler, Ben Gamel and Mason Williams.

The Cubs were willing to pay big because Chapman is on the short list of best relievers on the planet. Despite missing the season’s first month after being suspended for his domestic abuse issue, Chapman had 20 saves, a 2.01 ERA, 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 100.7-mph average fastball.