Now we’ve got ourselves a conversation here.

Now the Yankees have done something besides fuel the endless debates about the relative worthiness of Manny Machado, Bryce Harper or none of the above.

Can the (probably) most expensive bullpen in history catapult the Yankees over their chief rivals and through their Machado- and Harper-desiring fans?

The news broke Thursday that the Yankees had agreed with New York City native Adam Ottavino on a three-year, $27 million contract, and boy oh boy, does that give the Yankees one monster relief corps. Ottavino, who enjoyed a rise-from-the-ashes 2018 campaign with the Rockies at age 32, joins Aroldis Chapman, Zach Britton, Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder for a Murderers’ Row of relievers that should protect leads with the ferocity of a mother bear protecting its cubs.

Sure, the odds say injury and underperformance will hit some members of the group. But the whole point is the Yankees are playing the odds. They will bank on enough of these guys honoring their histories to continue, if not enhance, the late-inning dominance they have exhibited every season since, ironically, Mariano Rivera’s retirement following the 2013 campaign.

Did someone write the word “bank”? When you combine Ottavino’s annual average value of $9 million (we don’t know his 2019 salary yet) with the salaries set to be earned by Chapman ($17.2 million), Britton ($13 million) and Betances ($7.25 million), and you throw in veteran Tommy Kahnle ($1.39 million) and the six-figure paydays that will be earned by youngsters Green and Holder, the Yankees’ relief corps will likely surpass the 2018 Rockies’ total of $45.8 million, which set the record for bullpen budget as researched by writer Kyle Bishop of SB Nation.

The entire Yankees team now has an estimated payroll of $209 million (thanks, Baseball-Reference.com), and that jumps to about $224 million (with the extra money coming for player benefits and minor league call-ups) when we discuss luxury-tax implication. It’ll drop by $7.5 million if the Yankees actually, finally trade Sonny Gray. Either way, the Yankees will remain above the $206 million threshold, which they of course stayed under last year in order to reset their tax rate.

That the Yankees haven’t gone crazy this offseason, entirely sitting out the Harper sweepstakes and essentially not calling Manny Machado for a second date after he visited New York, has upset a healthy contingent of their fan base who expected such a festival. I’ll reiterate my stance that the lefty-hitting, spotlight-comfortable Harper would be worth a huge investment (more than $300 million) and the questionable fit Machado a smaller one (less than $200 million). Even if they pass on both, the Yankees will avoid some heat by at least leaping over the soft salary cap and defying Hal Steinbrenner’s own past words that he shouldn’t have to spend more than $200 million on a champion.

The Red Sox laid waste to those words last season when they spent more than $230 million on players and $240 million in total to incur a luxury-tax bill of roughly $12 million, easily outspending and outpacing the Yankees en route to their fourth title in 15 years. And the Red Sox have an estimated 2019 payroll of $239 million, only they clearly have more work to do … on their bullpen.

Their closer Craig Kimbrel remains an unsigned free agent. And Joe Kelly, who re-emerged late as a key setup man, departed for the Dodgers. Sometimes you can get away with a no-name, light-résumé bullpen. Do the Red Sox want to try that as defending champions against the Yankees, though?

The Yankees still face some questions about their 2019 roster: Their lack of lefty hitting. Their reliance on the fragile Troy Tulowitzki to play shortstop in Didi Gregorius’ absence. Whether their starting rotation owns a sufficiently high ceiling.

A great bullpen, however, can pave over many cracks.

The huge investment in relief arms is, in the words of “Friends” sarcasm king Chandler Bing, totally worth it. Can it close out all doubts about this franchise’s robustness and commitment? That’s reason enough to stay tuned.