The Yankees have developed a way of making a big trade, especially when they lack desperation and/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 with Gerrit Cole are not quite in the same stage of desperation. But they are at some level. It is similar to how the A’s 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 park in 770 1-/3 career innings, Cole is at 12 percent at 782 1/3. The Yankees got Gray to impact three playoff chases, Cole would be for two, but Cole is a year younger and strikes out more and walks less (albeit in a DH-less league).

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 on avoiding the risk of waiting and taking a strong package last July was best.

Now, can the Yanks 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 re-signing CC Sabathia, the Yanks have the same five-man rotation (with also 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 Arizona about Patrick Corbin. They know that if nothing is done now that, like 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 Yanks 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. But there are questions within the industry if Adams will ever refine his third-pitch changeup enough to go along with strong fastball/superb slider to remain a starter.

Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer is entering his walk year, so I could see the Yanks 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 Yanks could say pick from among Cody Carroll, Gio Gallegos, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, etc.

The Pirates are known as a team that moves cautiously in trade talks. But they still have made plenty of deals under GM Neal Huntington with the Yankees, including involving A.J. Burnett, Francisco Cervelli and Ivan Nova. Pittsburgh would like to turn Cole and Andrew McCutchen (entering his walk year) into a pile of prospects that hasten a return to the playoffs.

Cole gave up a disturbing 31 homers last year but — like Masahiro Tanaka — retained peripheral stats in hits, walks, strikeouts, etc. that could suggest he endured bad fortune as opposed to revealed a true shortcoming. The Yankees want him despite the long balls. But not enough to deal their best prospects. Instead, they are back to trying to slow walk another club toward what is acceptable to them.