The now-eliminated Yankees must decide if the approaching offseason more resembles 2007-08 or 2008-09.

You might recall that after the 2007 campaign, the Yankees did not believe they were one piece from being capable of winning a championship, plus their farm system needed another year of growth. So, they made a tepid pursuit of a player they badly needed in the moment, Johan Santana, who instead was dealt to the Mets.

The following offseason — with the further pressure of opening a new stadium — the Yankees refused to accept a “no” from CC Sabathia, won the bidding for A.J. Burnett and rejiggered their payroll to slip in Mark Teixeira.

If the Yankees decide on Plan B, this offseason will look something like this: Sign Aroldis Chapman and either Yoenis Cespedes or Edwin Encarnacion as free agents, and give up what is necessary to trade for an ace named Chris — Archer or Sale. That would put the 2017 Yankees into the title conversation.

But I don’t think they are going to do that because:

1. Hal Steinbrenner has yearned to lower the payroll, not raise it, with an eye on slipping under the luxury tax. Because Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez are still on the books for 2017, the Yankees know they will not get under next season, even if — as expected — the threshold rises to about $200 million as part of a new collective bargaining agreement. The more likely time the Yankees could get under that threshold is for 2018. That would reset their tax to the lowest levels and be well-timed to set them up to be major players in the post-2018 free agent class, which projects to be among the best ever.

2. It took Steinbrenner a while to accept the state of his current team and approve the trades of Chapman, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Miller at the deadline. That more fully committed the franchise to a roster turnover, which means giving time to fully see what the Yankees have.

3. Teixeira’s contract is just running out now and Sabathia’s does not expire for another year. That provides Yankees leadership a chilly nudge not to overemphasize today by complicating future rosters and payrolls.

Therefore, I believe the Yankees will be more aggressive than they were last offseason (when they were the only team not to sign a major league free agent), but less aggressive than a full assault. I believe they will try to upgrade and get in position to be a strong contender by next July, which will give them more time to learn about the Luis Cessas, Aaron Judges, Gleyber Torreses, Clint Fraziers, Bryan Mitchells, etc. At that time, they could decide whether to make a go-for-it trade or fully play for 2018.

Part of the more conservative route is simply accepting the market. The Yankees need a top-notch starter, and this might be the worst-ever free-agent class for that. Thus, the trade prices for an Archer or Sale are only going to be higher. I would suspect both pitchers’ teams would ask for either Gary Sanchez or Greg Bird as a starting piece in a trade.

So what should the Yankees do?

They have a splurge in them, and should direct it toward Chapman, which might cost about $72 million for four years. There has been talk of Kenley Jansen, but why sign someone who will cost a draft pick when Chapman would not? Plus, the Yankees know Chapman works in New York. Obviously, there are risks with this player for multiple years that did not exist this season, when he had to be on his best behavior because he was in his walk year after a domestic abuse suspension.

But Chapman is a freakish athlete — I believe he might win a major league decathlon if there were such a thing. He would put Dellin Betances back in a more comfortable role as pre-ninth-inning attack dog for Joe Girardi. The need to deepen the bullpen is vital considering there will be so many questions about health and readiness in the rotation. Having Tyler Clippard and Adam Warren for the sixth and seventh innings should help.

A strong, deep pen should help the rotation. But more is needed, and if the Yankees cannot solve their starting situation from the top with an Archer or Sale type, then what they should do is simply create more options, kind of like what the Dodgers have done since Zack Greinke nearly signed last offseason before going to the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers won the NL West despite using 16 starters — 11 of whom started at least five games.

The Yankees should add two veterans to Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda — all of whom have physical red flags — so they could put Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell and Luis Severino either in the pen or in Triple-A for depth they surely will need.

The Dodgers were willing to take on physical risks because they had depth. The Yankees could do the same. Rich Hill, a free agent, is a top starter now, but constantly hurt. Brandon McCarthy could probably be had from the Dodgers with two years left on his contract. Doug Fister and Colby Lewis are free agents.

The Yankees could think about an innings eater such as Edinson Volquez in free agency or trades for Ricky Nolasco or Ervin Santana, though many of Santana’s peripherals are similar to those of Toronto’s J.A. Happ and, thus, the Twins would ask for a haul in return.

The Yankees could try to get a swingman such as lefty Mike Montgomery from the Cubs, or think about a bounce-back candidate such as Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks or Sonny Gray of the A’s, or try to use that deeper positional prospect base to land a young starter who might have upside such as Oakland’s Sean Manaea.

As for a bat, the Yankees will have to decide two things: 1) Are they ready to let Aaron Judge get 500-plus plate appearances and see if he hits enough homers to make his low batting average/high strikeouts tolerable? 2) Are they trading Brian McCann?

If they are trading McCann — and I would have to believe the demand for McCann was aided by the Nationals’ Wilson Ramos, the best catcher on the upcoming free-agent market, tearing his ACL for the second time — then there are DH at-bats available, too.

In that scenario, would Beltran sign for one year? Would trading for the White Sox’s Todd Frazier going into his walk year to be a third baseman/first-base insurance for Bird/DH make sense? Would signing Mike Napoli or Kendrys Morales as a first baseman/DH work?