Lawyers clash over Angels' alleged
role in Tyler Skaggs' overdose death
[December 16, 2025]
By AMY TAXIN
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A lawyer for the family of late pitcher
Tyler Skaggs argued Monday that the Los Angeles Angels' failure to
investigate reports of drug use and dealing by the team's
communications director led to the overdose death of the 27-year-old
player.
An Angels' attorney, however, said it was Skaggs who was pushing
drug-addicted employee Eric Kay and his teammates to provide him
with pills and that had club officials known about it they would
have sought help for the left-handed pitcher.
The dueling claims came in closing arguments of a two-month civil
trial in Southern California over whether the MLB team should be
held responsible for Skaggs' fatal overdose after snorting a
fentanyl-laced pill on a team trip to Texas in 2019.
Kay was convicted of providing the pill that led to Skaggs' death in
a federal criminal case in Texas. The California trial is a wrongful
death lawsuit filed by Skaggs' widow, Carli, and his parents,
contending the Angels knew or should have known Kay was an addict
and dealing to players.
Daniel Dutko, a lawyer for Skaggs' family, told jurors extensive
testimony has shown team officials didn't take adequate action when
they learned Kay had multiple plastic bags filled with pills at his
home or was hospitalized for a drug overdose. Rather, Kay stayed on
the job and had access to players he aimed to keep happy by getting
them massage appointments, tee times and prescription medication,
Dutko said, adding he was found to have provided drugs to seven on
the team.
“This is a systematic breakdown over and over and over,” Dutko said.
“Why do you think the players think it is OK to go to the director
of communications to get a prescription medication? Because they
believed Eric Kay’s job responsibility was to get them whatever they
need.”
Todd Theodora, an attorney for the Angels, countered that the team
wasn't aware that Skaggs had an addiction to painkillers that dated
back years and didn't know Kay was distributing pills to Skaggs or
anyone else. He said Skaggs got fellow players into taking pills and
Kay to act as a so-called “gopher” to provide them with the drugs,
but they kept it secret out of concern it could jeopardize their MLB
careers.
“This is illegal activity that they concealed because they did not
want the team to know about it,” Theodora told the court, adding
Skaggs took the drugs of his own free will. “They didn't even tell
their wives.”
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Attorneys listen as Daniel Dutko gives his closing arguments in the
wrongful death lawsuit by the family of pitcher Tyler Skaggs against
the Los Angeles Angels in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana,
Calif., Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County
Register via AP, Pool)
The trial comes six years after Skaggs was found
dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying in 2019
as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the
Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report said the player choked to death on
his vomit, and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was
found in his system.
Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit
oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and was sentenced to 22 years in
prison. His trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players
who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017
to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them
to Angels players.
In California, the trial has included testimony from dozens of
witnesses including Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Angels president,
John Carpino; and Skaggs' and Kay's relatives. Witnesses described
Kay’s erratic behavior at the stadium and incidents that led to his
time in rehab before he headed out on the trip to Texas with the
team. They also described how players paid Kay for stunts in the
clubhouse including taking a fastball to the leg and eating a pimple
off Trout’s back.
Kay’s now-ex-wife, Camela Kay, said the Angels failed her
then-husband, who worked lengthy hours, and that during his 2019
hospitalization for a drug overdose, she heard he had pills intended
for Skaggs. Carpino testified that he wished he had known sooner
about the drug use by both Skaggs and Kay.
Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since
late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time.
He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After Skaggs’ death, the MLB reached a deal with the players
association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test
positive to the treatment board.
Skaggs’ family is seeking lost earnings, compensation for pain and
suffering and punitive damages against the Angels. Experts for the
family said he could have reeled in more than $100 million as a
pitcher had he lived, while team-hired experts put the figure at no
more than $32 million.
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