NYPost:

As for Chien-Ming Wang, his agent, Alan Nero, said surgeon James Andrews cleared the righty to throw beginning on Dec. 1, and that he could be ready by mid-April or early May to pitch in regular-season games after shoulder surgery.

However, Yankee doctors have not seen Wang and the team plans on non-tendering the righty rather than risk paying a minimum of $4 million for him in 2010. The Yanks will then consider if he is worth offering a low-base, incentive-laden contract to return.

Early May is the earliest estimate I've heard.

Obviously, I've never sat in on an arbitration, but Wang has gone 9-8 with a 5.78 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 137 IP over the last 2 seasons.  I doubt he would make much more than the minimum.

Unless the Yanks think that Wang will sign a two year deal or a one year with an option (like Jon Lieber and Sergio Mitre), the difference of a couple million dollars seems triffling.

The Yankee brass has always seemed to undervalue Wang, taking him year to year rather than working out a long term deal like they did for Robbie Cano.