Trading Andrew Miller was a watershed moment for the Yankees. The package of prospects they got from the Cleveland Indians on Sunday — Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller and J. P. Feyereisen — looks promising, but that is almost beside the point. The Yankees, at last, have acknowledged reality.

This is not just the reality of the current standings, which show that the Yankees have little chance to return to the postseason. They have not competed in a playoff series since 2012, and their roster of stale position players and inconsistent pitchers will very likely not carry them there.

The reality that the Yankees embraced on Sunday, and last week with the trade of Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs, is the operating method of the industry. Sometimes teams must trade their best players to plan for the future. The Yankees, it turns out, can do that, too.

The Yankees have always carried themselves with a sort of exceptionalism, as if their unmatched history — and admirable willingness to reinvest in the product — set them apart from their peers. For many years, it did.