NEW YORK (AP) — Brusdar Graterol, Braxton Garrett and Hayden Wesneski agreed to one-year contracts that avoided arbitration, leaving 166 major league players set to exchange proposed salaries with their teams Thursday in a group headed by Tarik Skubal and Randy Arozarena.
Graterol agreed Wednesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers at $2.8 million, Garrett with Miami at $1.53 million and Wesneski with Houston at $975,000. All three pitchers are coming off major injuries.
Graterol, a 27-year-old right-hander, gets the same salary he received last year, when he missed the season following surgery in November 2024 to repair a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. He has pitched in just seven games since the start of 2024. Graterol has a career record of 11-9 with a 2.78 ERA and 11 saves.
Garrett, a 28-year-old left-hander, also receives a salary identical to his 2025 earnings. He missed last season following Tommy John surgery in December 2024. He has a 16-19 record and 4.03 ERA over five seasons with the Marlins.
Wesneski, a 28-year-old right-hander, was eligible for arbitration for the first time after going 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts. He had Tommy John surgery in May.
Skubal, a Detroit left-hander coming off his second straight AL Cy Young Award, and Arozarena, a Seattle outfielder, are both eligible for arbitration for the final time and on track to become free agents after the 2026 World Series.
Others in the arbitration group include New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., Milwaukee catcher William Contreras, Seattle right-hander Logan Gilbert, Philadelphia left-hander Jesús Luzardo, Cincinnati right-hander Brady Singer, Toronto outfielder Daulton Varsho and Baltimore outfielder Taylor Ward.
More than 100 players are likely to reach agreements Thursday.
Hearings for players who don't reach deals will be scheduled from Jan. 26 to Feb. 13 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
FILE -Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brusdar Graterol throws against the New York Yankees during the sixth inning in Game 5 of the baseball World Series, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s federal death penalty trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson could begin before the end of the year, a judge said Friday while weighing a defense bid to bar the government from making it a capital case.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she expects Mangione’s trial to begin in December — or possibly January 2027, as federal prosecutors suggested — if the death penalty is still on the table. If not, she said, Mangione could stand trial in October.
Either way, Garnett said, she expects jury selection to begin around Sept. 8. No trial date has been scheduled in Mangione’s parallel state murder case. Prosecutors previously said they anticipated the state trial to be first.
Garnett said she would issue a written schedule after looking at her calendar and reviewing notes of conversations she's had with the court’s jury coordinator.
The judge said she would rule at a later date on the defense's requests to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, throw out some charges and exclude certain evidence. Another pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 30.
Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel movie” spectacle and by publicly declaring their desire to see him executed even before he was formally indicted.
At the same time, they are asking Garnett to throw out two of the four charges against him, including the murder by firearm charge that has enabled the government to seek the death penalty. They argue that it is legally flawed.
Federal prosecutors say Mangione’s lawyers are wrong on both fronts, countering that the murder charge is legally sufficient and that “pretrial publicity, even when intense” is hardly a constitutional crisis. Any concerns about public perceptions can be alleviated by carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the case, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges, which carry the possibility of life in prison.
Friday's hearing was Mangione’s first trip to Manhattan federal court since his April 25 arraignment.
A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione again drew supporters to the courthouse. Some wore green clothing and carried signs such as “Free Luigi" and “No Death For Luigi Mangione."
Mangione, wearing a beige jail uniform, was attentive but didn’t speak once during the nearly three-hour proceeding. After entering the courtroom, he greeted his lead attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, with handshakes. He nodded along while reading documents, sometimes sipping from a plastic water bottle.
In addition to the death penalty issue, Garnett is weighing a defense request — similar to one in his state case — to bar the government from using certain items found in a backpack during his arrest. The defense argues that the search was illegal because police had not yet obtained a warrant.
Those items include a gun that police said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which Mangione purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
Garnett said she is not inclined to hold a separate hearing on the evidence issue like one last month that took three weeks in Mangione’s state murder case. The judge in that case said he won’t rule until May.
Prosecutors contend police were justified in searching the backpack to make sure there were no dangerous items and that the gun, notebook and other evidence would have eventually been found anyway.
Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
He's already had success paring down his state case. In September, a judge threw out state terrorism charges against him.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last year that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, declaring that capital punishment was warranted for a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Mangione’s lawyers argue that Bondi’s announcement, which she followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance, showed the decision was “based on politics, not merit.” Her remarks tainted the grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks later, they said.
In this courtroom sketch, Luigi Mangione, center, flanked by his attorneys Karen Agnifilo, left and Marc Agnifilo, right, during his court appearance in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Marc Agnifilo, attorney for Luigi Mangione, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Supporters of Luigi Mangione raise signs outside Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
US Marshall Service officer stand while people wait in line outside Manhattan federal court ahead of a hearing for Luigi Mangione, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Legal team of Luigi Mangione including Karen Friedman Agnifilo, center, and Marc Agnifilo, second right, arrive at Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
