The police officer leans into the driver’s side window of the boxy sedan, which had just run over a sidewalk and crashed through a giant wooden sign painted like a groundhog and into a row of parked vehicles.

“Three cheeseburgers, two large fries, two chocolate shakes and one large Coke,” says driver Phil Connors, played by Bill Murray in the 1993 film Groundhog Day.

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“And some flapjacks!” the guy in the middle seat says.

Connors looks up at the officer.

“Too early for flapjacks?”

No, it’s never too early for flapjacks. But for New York Yankees offseason predictions? Heck yes, it’s way too early. Still, we’re just a week into a playoff-less October in New York City with the Mets also sitting on their couches until February. While Yankees leaders congregate at the team’s player development complex in Tampa to discuss what went wrong this season, there’s not much else to do than think about what might lie ahead.

So, here are our way-too-soon Yankees offseason predictions, acknowledging that we hardly have the prognostication powers of Punxsutawney Phil, let alone Nostradamus. Translation: Don’t hold us to these.

Read more: Yankees’ Hal Steinbrenner says ‘changes’ are coming, but what are they? 

Hal Steinbrenner makes his strongest statement in a long time

Steinbrenner was hailed as a hero by Yankees fans when he sealed the Aaron Judge contract negotiations while on vacation in Italy in December. The honeymoon didn’t last long. Shortly after securing free agent Carlos Rodón, he said, “We’re not done yet.” Yet the team’s only meaningful addition ended up being journeyman outfielder Franchy Cordero. Then, in June, he said in a radio interview that he was “confused” why fans were upset with his team, which at the time was 9 1/2 games out of first place in the American League East, riling up Bronx diehards even more. And in August, Steinbrenner told the Associated Press that the Yankees were thinking about hiring an “outside company to really take a look at the analytics side of what we do. Baseball operations in general.” There have been mixed signals about what will be examined.

The prediction here is that Steinbrenner — understanding that fans are ticked off — will, in clear terms, acknowledge their frustrations and promise that there will be a different tone around the team next season, perhaps one of urgency starting on Opening Day. Of course, nobody is expecting him to sound like his father, the late owner George Steinbrenner. That would be out of character and inauthentic. But the word has been that Steinbrenner has been frustrated with what he’s seen on the field from his nearly $300 million payroll, and it might help him buy back some of that goodwill by sounding a little bit like the people who buy tickets to Yankee Stadium. He’ll have to not just make it clear that a repeat performance of 2023 is unacceptable. He’ll have to challenge fans to hold him accountable if it happens again. — Kuty

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Yankees give Yoshinobu Yamamoto $200 million

Many teams have been linked to Yamamoto, who recently turned 25 years old and is likely the best pitcher on the market not named Shohei Ohtani. But the Yankees have been on him as much as any of them, and general manager Brian Cashman was in attendance alongside special advisor Omar Minaya when Yamamoto threw a no-hitter this season. Cashman’s presence was a clear sign of the Yankees’ intent to charge hard after him.

Yamamoto has the chops to demand a king’s ransom. He’s won the Most Valuable Player of the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League and he’s won the NPB equivalent of the Cy Young Award. Over seven seasons, he has a 1.72 ERA with a 9.2 K/9 and a 2.0 BB/9.

Before the 2020 season, the Yankees gave Gerrit Cole a nine-year, $324 million deal that will take Cole through his age 37 season. While Yamamoto won’t approach Cole’s dollar figure, it wouldn’t be crazy to think a team might try to give him as many years in terms of commitment. Yamamoto is young enough that he could be a rotation staple for a decade and still have plenty more to contribute. If the Yankees are worried they got it wrong with Rodón after his rough debut season, they could double down on Yamamoto. If they think Rodón will bounce back, the addition of the Japanese star would give them an incredible top three in their rotation. — Kuty

Los Angeles Angels two-way star Ohtani is the best player available in free agency but the Yankees are not the favorites to land him as of now. The second-best hitter on the market is Chicago Cubs outfielder Bellinger. The Yankees were interested in Bellinger ahead of the trade deadline but the Cubs held on to him.

The Yankees must upgrade their offense after finishing 24th in OPS this season. They have immediate holes in left field and center field, with the latter being open because of Jasson Domínguez’s Tommy John surgery that will hold him out for at least half of 2024.

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With our prediction of Steinbrenner making his biggest statement in years, not only will the Yankees sign one of the best pitchers in Yamamoto but they’ll also add Bellinger, too. Bellinger had a resurgent 2023 season after two awful years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, leading them to non-tender him just one year ago. Teams must decide if they believe Bellinger’s 2023 season is repeatable or if his two down years in 2021 and 2022 are too close in the rearview mirror to not give some pause.

The Yankees should approach with caution. Bellinger outperformed his expected numbers by a large margin, meaning regression is possible moving forward. But because the Yankees need better hitters, they take a gamble and sign Bellinger to a six-year, $150 million deal. — Kirschner

Yankees make splashy trade with Cardinals

Before the trade deadline passed, the Yankees also inquired with the St. Louis Cardinals, who still remain obvious trade partners. The Cardinals finished the year 26th in starting pitching ERA, and their outlook in the rotation is bleak. They traded away Jordan Montgomery to the Texas Rangers and Jack Flaherty to the Baltimore Orioles. Adam Wainwright is retiring. Miles Mikolas made 35 starts but took a significant step backward this year. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters in August that his club has to add three starting pitchers this offseason and the plan is to be “very aggressive” with their stated goal.

An organizational strength for the Yankees is their pitching depth. Michael King emerged as a penciled-in 2024 starter. Clarke Schmidt, Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito each had bright spots in various roles. Drew Thorpe was named minor league pitcher of the year, and Chase Hampton may be the team’s best starting pitching prospect.

Brendan Donovan, whose season was cut short due to elbow surgery, makes sense for what the Yankees need. Donovan is a high on-base percentage, low-strikeout left-handed bat who posted a .787 OPS in 95 games this year while playing all over the field. His OPS would have ranked third on the Yankees behind Judge and Gleyber Torres. The Yankees simply need more good hitters heading into next season, and Donovan fills that hole.

Because Donovan is a pre-arbitration player, it will likely take a lot for the Cards to consider moving someone like him. Maybe Schmidt, Vásquez and Clayton Beeter would get the Cardinals to entertain the idea of trading Donovan. With the free-agency market lacking many impactful bats, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Yankees add a few bats through trades. — Kirschner

The Yankees bring in more Yankees

We’re talking about the coaching staff. Look, as of now, there’s no reason to believe that any of the Yankees’ coaches are in clear danger of losing their jobs. The only position currently up in the air is hitting coach Sean Casey, who hasn’t committed to returning after a half-season in the role, though the Yankees appear to want him back.

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But players have spoken about how much they have appreciated having around Casey and assistant hitting coach Brad Wilkerson, who can attest to what it’s like enduring the bumps and bruises of playing in the major leagues. It might make sense for the Yankees to target more of that. They did bring back Yankees legend Andy Pettitte last season in essentially a part-time role advising pitchers. Hiring ex-Mets GM Omar Minaya and ex-San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabaen to front-office roles signaled the integration of more established baseball veterans into the decision-making processes.

Would the Yankees try to twist the arm of Nick Swisher to bring the energy, positivity and experience he’s invested in the team’s minor leaguers in recent years to join their bench? What about someone like Tino Martinez, who coached in the Cape Cod League this summer? Or even David Cone, who was interviewed for the pitching coach job that went to Matt Blake and has stayed close to the field in his TV roles for ESPN and the YES Network? Scott Brosius is beloved by the fan base and has coached in college and with the Seattle  Mariners. Would the retired third baseman be an option? Willie Randolph lives nearby in New Jersey and would likely love a chance to be around the game full-time again. — Kuty

Will Warren earns consideration to make Yankees’ rotation

Out of all pitchers who threw at least 300 total pitches in Triple A this season, Warren had the best Stuff+ ranking from The Athletic’s Eno Sarris. Most notably, Warren finished the year with Sarris’ best sweeper by Stuff+. That sweeper is Warren’s No. 1 putaway pitch, and it helped propel him to 149 strikeouts in 129 innings, across both Double A and Triple A. Considering how inflated offensive numbers were in Triple A this year, his 3.61 ERA is quite impressive.

The Yankees tend to leave open the fifth starter spot in their rotation heading into spring training. Because of how elite Warren’s stuff is, don’t be surprised if he ends up in the rotation come Opening Day, especially if he shows improvement with his command over the winter. — Kirschner

Quick free agency predictions

The Yankees have seven unrestricted free agents this offseason. Let’s quickly run through some predictions on who may or may not return next season.

• Luis Severino: Does not return
• Frankie Montas: Returns on a one-year prove-it deal
• Isiah Kiner-Falefa: Does not return
• Wandy Peralta: Returns on a two-year deal
• Keynan Middleton: Returns on a one-year deal
• Zach McAllister: Does not return
• Luke Weaver: Does not return

(Top photo of Cody Bellinger: Matt Dirksen / Getty Images)