THE COLE HARD FACTS

Any deal will be on Bombers’ terms

LATEST ON TRADE TALKS FOR PIRATES PITCHER

THE Yankees have developed a way of making a big trade, especially when they lack desperation or perceive they have leverage.

They use the dearth or absence of other suitors plus a willingness to wait and wait to kind of slow walk the other team toward their way of thinking. The Yankees didn’t, for example, desperately need Giancarlo Stanton so they let the Marlins know what they were willing to do, watched as other suitors fell away and, poof, there were the Yankees ready to throw Miami a lifeline, or noose, depending on how you view it.

The Pirates are not quite in the same stage of desperation with Gerrit Cole. But they are at some level. It is similar to how the Athletics felt at the last trading deadline with Sonny Gray — they were a small-market team that knew it could retain its ace and make a trade another time, but every day brought Gray closer to free agency and ran a risk of injury and, thus, the dual threat of having an asset they knew they had to at some point trade losing significant value.

The Yankees appreciated this. They wanted Gray last July, but could live without him since they were a year ahead of schedule to contend anyway. The Yankees, with such a deep farm system, recognized the deal they were willing to make would probably outclass others even if they were taking their best prospects off the table. And ultimately the sides reached an agreement.

That should be instructive here. Because Gray and Cole have a lot in common. They came up in the same year and are both free agents after 2019. Gray has an ERA 15 percent better than league average, factoring in the park, in 770 ¹ /3 career innings. Cole is at 12 percent in 782 ¹/3 innings.

The Yankees gave up three prospects for Gray — Dustin Fowler, James Kaprielian and Jorge Mateo — who had been on various top-100 lists, though Fowler (knee) and Kaprielian (elbow) were out for the season at the time of the trade. The Yankees refused to include, among others, Gleyber Torres, Estevan Florial and Justus Sheffield, but Oakland eventually decided that avoiding the risk of waiting and taking a strong package last July was best.

Now, can the Yankees slow walk the Pirates in the same way? They have taken at least Torres, Florial and Sheffield off the table. And they are doing their no-sweat routine again. By resigning CC Sabathia, the Yankees have the same five-man rotation (with Gray, Jordan Montgomery, Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka) that got them to ALCS Game 7.

They have Luis Cessa, Domingo German and Chance Adams in reserve, the consideration to turn Chad Green and Adam Warren back into starters, and Sheffield, Albert Abreu and Domingo Acevedo closer to the majors now than they were in July.

So, yes, they would like one more talented starter such as Cole because they see the red-flag possibilities on pretty much the whole rotation and, thus, what could deter them from high-end contention. But they also believe they can line up with what they have and be OK. They are talking to other teams, notably the Diamondbacks about Patrick Corbin. They know if nothing is done now that, as with Gray last year, other alternatives will arise during the season. And, heck, the general consensus was the Astros could not win last year without getting a starter, and they got one with literally one minute to go until the Aug. 31 waiver deadline.

So the Yankees are again projecting a lack of urgency, and willingly waiting to see if the Pirates eventually find a combination of players that are acceptable before spring training rather than see if Cole builds or loses value during the year.

The Yankees are willing to build a trade around Clint Frazier (think the Mateo of this deal) because Stanton’s addition further blocked him from being a 2018 factor. I could see them giving Pittsburgh a choice of Abreu, Acevedo and Adams in the Kaprielian slot. Adams is ranked as the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect by MLB.com and the team likes him.

Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer is entering his walk year, so I could see the Yankees making Thairo Estrada or Tyler Wade available in the Fowler level. And because they have so much inventory in righty relief, just to sweeten the deal, the Yankees could say, pick from among Cody Carroll, Gio Gallegos, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, etc.