YankeesRedSox.com: The Next Big Deadline

Tomorrow night is the deadline for tendering players a contract for 2010. For the Yankees, it's a 99.9% certainty that it will mean the end (for now) of Chien-Ming Wang's career in pinstripes. And while I don't think they would non-tender him, you have to at least consider the possibility that Chad Gaudin could get cut because he made $2 million last year and you have to offer a tendered player at least 70% of his previous deal.

Much more interesting will be the list of players across baseball who get non-tendered. The Red Sox famously profited from this when David Ortiz was cut by the Twins. Though, I think the Twins should be given a pass in light of what we have learned about Mr. Ortiz's activities.

There are two guys that interest me for the Yankees, Dioneer Navarro and Jonny Gomes. Navarro was of course originally a Yankees' prospect before he became part of the Randy Johnson trade. He made $2.1 million last year and he had an awful season with the bat- .218/.261/.322.- or Jose Molina numbers. But, part of that is based on a .231 BABIP. In 2008 when his BABIP was .318 he put up a line of .295/.349/.407. Considering that Posada is 38 and Cervelli is really unproven, signing Navarro to a deal may not be the worst move in the world. Plus, he is still only 25, so he still has the potential to improve.

Gomes had some good years in Tampa and he put up some nice numbers for the Reds last year. He has always hit lefties well and that continued in 2009 with a .914 OPS against them. He can play either left or right and just turned 29. He might be a better bet to provide righty power/platoon potential off the bench than Hoffmann for a low price.

So, keep an eye out tomorrow as the names start showing up, the Yankees could do some bargain shopping based on who gets the axe.