The decision to settle came after a two-month civil trial in Southern California over whether the Angels should be held liable for Skaggs’ death in 2019 after he snorted a fentanyl-laced pill provided by the team’s communications director, Eric Kay.
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Skaggs’ widow, Carli, and his parents filed the lawsuit alleging that the MLB team knew or should have known that Kay was a drug addict and sold painkillers to players. The settlement closes a painful six-year process, the Skaggs family said in a statement.
“We are deeply grateful to the members of this jury and our legal team,” the family said in the statement. “Their commitment and focus gave us faith, and now we have finality. This trial exposed the truth and we hope that Major League Baseball now does its part to hold the Angels accountable. While nothing can bring Tyler back, we will continue to honor his memory.”
The team has maintained that officials did not know Skaggs was using drugs and would have sought help from him if they knew.
“Tyler Skaggs’ death remains a tragedy and this trial sheds light on the dangers of opioid use and the devastating effects it can have,” the team said in a statement Friday.
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Jurors began deliberating earlier this week.
Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover thanked the jurors for their diligence. “That is why this matter could be resolved today,” he said, before announcing it to them.
Six years ago, the 27-year-old left-handed pitcher was found dead in a suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying while the Angels were scheduled to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. The forensic report said that the player died of asphyxiation on his vomit and a toxic mixture of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.
Kay, a former Angels employee, was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in prison. His criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times between 2017 and 2019.
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In California, MLB players including outfielder Mike Trout, Angels president John Carpino, and relatives of Skaggs and Kay testified during the trial in a Santa Ana courtroom. Witnesses for the plaintiffs described how Kay acted erratically at the stadium and was found with multiple plastic bags full of pills in his home and later hospitalized for a drug overdose. They also told how Kay got massage appointments, tee times and even prescription medications for players, and how players paid him for stunts like taking a fastball to his leg.
Angels attorneys noted that Skaggs was addicted to painkillers before signing with the Angels in 2013. They said Skaggs made his teammates take pills and asked Kay to provide them, but kept it a secret for fear it could jeopardize their MLB careers. If team officials had known that Kay was dealing drugs or that Skaggs was using them, they would have done something, lawyers said.
Witnesses also argued during the case about how much money Skaggs would have made as a pitcher had he lived. The plaintiffs’ experts said he could have raised between $91 million and $101 million, while the Angels estimated the figure at no more than $32 million.
Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and battled injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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After Skaggs’ death, MLB reached an agreement with the players’ association to begin testing for opioids and refer those who test positive to the treatment board.
Rusty Hardin, an attorney for the plaintiffs, welcomed the settlement and said the amount remains confidential. Hardin said there were rules in place and the Angels ignored them.
“The changes need to be made by teams like the Angels that allow this to happen,” Hardin said.
Before the judge announced the agreement Friday, jurors remained behind closed doors after attorneys for both sides went to speak with Colover.
On Wednesday night, jurors sent a note asking if they “can decide the amount of punitive damages,” saying there is no field for that on the verdict form. The judge said she would send a note responding that if they decide there should be punitive damages, they will decide how much later.
The jury did not work Thursday and resumed deliberations Friday morning.