TAMPA, Fla. -- On Sunday, Aaron Boone nailed his Super Bowl prediction, accurately forecasting that the Kansas City Chiefs would defeat the San Francisco 49ers by a final score of 31-20. When it comes to his own team, the Yankees manager enters his third Spring Training at the helm brimming with confidence, though he would prefer to leave his prognostications on the gridiron.

“I always say, be careful what you wish for,” Boone said on Thursday. “I say that to my coaches all the time. We’ll be watching a game unfold and I’ll say, ‘You might be cheering for the wrong team right now.’ Who knows? We’re such a long way away, it’s such a long season. Our job is to get ready to go win a championship. We don’t feel like anyone should be able to get in our way.”

Boone has spent time at the Yankees’ Minor League complex over the past two days, having accompanied his four-door sedan on its journey from Virginia to Florida on the Amtrak Auto Train. Early-arriving players have included Miguel Andújar, Luis Cessa, Thairo Estrada, Mike Ford, Chad Green, J.A. Happ, Ben Heller, Aaron Judge, Jordan Montgomery, Gary Sánchez, Luke Voit and Tyler Wade.

Though the Yankees moved to revamp their strength and conditioning department over the offseason, including the addition of performance guru Eric Cressey, Wednesday’s announcement regarding left-hander James Paxton felt like a page out of 2019. Paxton will miss approximately three to four months after undergoing spinal surgery to correct an issue that first popped up in September.

“I think hopefully this is what knocks it out for good and we can put this past him, and we end up saving some bullets for the end,” Boone said. “We feel good about the surgery and look forward to him being back soon.”

With J.A. Happ elevated to the probable No. 4 spot in the rotation behind Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino, general manager Brian Cashman has said that he envisions an open competition for the fifth slot. In a phone conversation on Wednesday, Cashman listed Cessa, top prospect Deivi Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga, Michael King and Montgomery among the leading candidates.

“We’re trying to get individuals ready and we’re always playing the long game,” Boone said. “There’s no question, there’s probably a spot there to be had. There will be some opportunities, but we want guys to get ready for the long haul too. We’ll make a good decision. We have a lot of good options.”

Montgomery could be a front-runner, having returned from Tommy John surgery to pitch four big league innings last year. Prior to his left elbow injury, the hurler had gone 11-7 with a 3.84 ERA over his first 35 big league starts from 2017-18.

“Monty has proven himself at this level,” Boone said. “For him to get back last year was big, just for his frame of mind. We weren’t expecting him to necessarily pitch for us last year, but we felt like he was doing so well that it would be good for him to get out there and pitch. The fact that he was able to get back, get some work done and get into some games was big for him and his mindset moving forward. I feel like he’s had a really good offseason.”

The Yankees, and their fans, will be interested to see how No. 1 prospect Garcia handles his first Major League camp. Rated as the No. 92 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, Garcia turns 21 in May and has already touched Triple-A, striking out 165 batters over 111 1/3 innings and posting a 4.28 ERA in 26 games (21 starts) at three levels of the Bombers’ system last year.

“Bottom line with Deivi, he’s someone we’re obviously very excited about,” Boone said. “This is his first big league camp, so we’ll try and get him in the best position to be successful and potentially impact us. I don’t want to put any expectations on him. He’s got a really bright future and we’ll see where it leads.”

Asked for his reaction to this week’s pending blockbuster trade involving the Red Sox, Dodgers and Twins, Boone indicated that Mookie Betts’ relocation to Southern California could ease his stress level.

“Obviously, he’s about as good as it gets,” Boone said. “I won’t miss facing him 18 times a year, that’s for sure. They’re a smart organization with a lot of wherewithal. I’m sure they’re doing what they think is best to get them on solid footing. I’m not entirely upset to see Mookie in the other league.”