FORT MYERS, Fla. — Major League Baseball can spare the expense of researching which method works better for building a winner: Fortify the rotation or stockpile the bullpen.

Simply consult the American League East standings and then wait to see who lasts longer in the postseason between the Red Sox and Yankees.

The Red Sox lead with what generally is regarded as the best starting rotation in baseball.

Ace Chris Sale has finished in the top six in Cy Young Award voting in seven consecutive seasons.

David Price won the Cy Young voting in 2012, has finished second twice and sixth once, and easily could have been named World Series MVP.

Rick Porcello was the 2016 Cy Young Award winner.

Nathan Eovaldi routinely puts three digits on the radar gun and was a big World Series hero.

Eduardo Rodriguez has been the club’s most hyped arm during spring training.

The Yankees have the arms to finish games as well as the Red Sox start them. If those arms stay healthy, they could form a bullpen that might be compared to history’s best.

Closer Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Rockies acquisition Adam Ottavino combined for 414 strikeouts in 2711/3 innings last season. Chapman has 236 career saves, Zack Britton 142.

For the Red Sox, hard-throwing Matt Barnes, the favorite to win the closer role created with the departure of still unsigned free agent Craig Kimbrel, would be new to the job and has two career saves.

“That’s the beauty of our game,” Red Sox Manager Alex Cora said.

“They do their things and they’re successful, and we did it our way and we’re successful. … I feel like in this game, it’s not right or wrong.”

A healthy rotation would take a great deal of pressure off an unproven bullpen.

Usually, Cora pointed out, most managers talk about “the first five, six innings,” but in the case of the Red Sox, it’s “six, seven and they shorten up the game.”

When Yankees Manager Aaron Boone talked about the Red Sox bullpen this year, he used words such as “sometimes” and “if.” When he talked about his own, he needed no qualifiers.

“Bullpens can be things that develop pretty fast organically,” Boone said. “We see a lot of quality bullpens emerge if you have the right kinds of arms sometimes. Sometimes they’re somewhat anonymous or burst on the scene probably a little quicker than other positions. In our case, the core of guys we’ve built, not only do we feel like they are great, but they have the track record that follows.”

Even teams at or near the top of the salary chart can’t have everything they want.

“Sometimes where your club is with payroll flexibility, there are so many things that can go into making those kinds of evaluations and decisions. We were able to have that flexibility to go add in some places. We feel like it’s something that works well for us.”

Cora introduced David Robertson, who signed with the Phillies as a free agent, into his thoughts on the Yankees’ bullpen.

How does Cora feel about his bullpen?

“There are some intriguing arms, not only here but in the minor leagues that we do feel that maybe they can contribute.”

The Red Sox won 108 games last season, the Yankees 100.

Have the Yankees closed the gap with a productive offseason?

“I have no idea,” Boone said. “I mean, that’s the beauty of all this.”

The beauty of baseball, there is something on which these managers can agree.

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