This period of American League history might be defined this way:
The Astros landed Justin Verlander in August 2017 and won the ALCS because they had him and the Yankees did not. Houston went on to win its first championship.
The Astros landed Gerrit Cole after the 2017 season and the Yankees did not, and reached the 2018 ALCS that the Yankees did not, in part, because they did not have Cole to face the eventual champion Red Sox in the division series.
The Astros landed three pitchers on deadline day 2019, notably Zack Greinke, and the Yankees obtained an A-ball pitcher named Alfredo Garcia.