Are the Astros the new Red Sox?

Nah, that’s not right. If only it were that simple for the Yankees. It’s more like this:

Do the Yankees now have two superpowers with which to contend in their own league?

Astros owner Jim Crane, attending a news conference Monday in Houston to announce the team’s championship trophy tour, told reporters on site his team is “actively pursuing a high-end starter.” They have met with free agent Yu Darvish, and Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported Monday they have spoken with the Pirates about Gerrit Cole.

The Yankees also have engaged in trade discussions about Cole, whom they selected in the first round of the 2008 amateur draft, only to see him turn down the pinstripes for UCLA. They’ve made clear they can live without the right-hander, whose last two seasons, both solid, have represented a decline from his stellar 2015. They’ll only make a trade in which they don’t surrender farm-system jewels like Gleyber Torres and Estevan Florial.

Surely, though, they can live less with Cole going to Houston instead.

For the Astros have quickly proven themselves worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the Yankees and Red Sox, long the AL’s Kylo Ren and Rey. They possess the talent, as exemplified by their 2017 title, the first in their 56-year history. Crane has put together an impressive leadership duo in general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch. And they play in an area large enough (Houston is the fourth-largest city in the country and has the ninth-largest TV market, according to current data) to make them competitive in any financial arena.

Hence, they are strong candidates to add a quality arm like Darvish, Cole or free agent Jake Arrieta. Especially when the inaction of the Yankees and the Dodgers, their National League soul mates, has contributed to this Hot Stove freeze.

“We’re always looking to upgrade the team,” Crane said Monday. “It would have to be a significant upgrade. We’re happy where we’re at. We’ve been told on paper we have the best team in baseball, but paper doesn’t win titles.”

He’s right, in the sense that FanGraphs currently projects the Astros to finish 97-65, better than anyone else — the Yankees and Red Sox both compute to be 91-71 — and of course with the notion that the finest roster often doesn’t get the parade. Really, the only area in which the Astros trail the Yankees and Red Sox is track record. In the luxury-tax era (since 1997, in other words), the Yankees have qualified for the playoffs 17 times, most of anyone, and the Red Sox rank second in the AL with 11 appearances; the Braves and Cardinals pace the NL with 12 berths each. The Astros trail the Dodgers (nine) and are tied with the Giants, Indians and A’s at eight, six of which they tallied in the NL before moving to the AL in 2013.

Landing a major upgrade to the pitching staff would elevate the Astros’ chances of improving that track record. Lefty Dallas Keuchel can be a free agent after 2018, and righty Justin Verlander after 2019, so the Astros could use some certainty in their rotation moving forward. Cole also can enter the market after 2019.

The Astros, with a projected payroll of $148.6 million, as per Baseball-Reference.com, own oodles of breathing room without having to worry about going over the luxury-tax threshold. They suffered no major losses from their championship roster. Their farm system remains deep.

The Yankees have added Giancarlo Stanton, and the Red Sox seem destined to get a notable bat like J.D. Martinez eventually. And don’t forget the Indians, who posted the AL’s best record last year before getting upset by the Yankees in the AL Division Series.

Nevertheless, the Astros look ready to run with the superpowers. Another big arm would be the latest piece of evidence in what already is a convincing case.