Bonus! You certainly can pinch the sprouts off. The bonus is that you can see readily where the eye is, and can do your separating now. Sometimes, it is next to impossible to see where the eye is, and one has to wait until spring when one starts them up.

Not all tubers have eyes, and so you can readily see which are the best ones to keep.

Here is a link that might be useful: tubers with an eye

Thanks for the information. I ended up leaving the eyes on them and storing them that way. I'm sure they'll be raring to go come spring.:)