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The president of the Los Angeles Angels baseball team testified Friday in a wrongful death lawsuit that pitcher Tyler Skaggs’ fatal overdose was difficult for the club and that he wished they had known sooner about drug use by the player and one of the team’s staffers.
John Carpino, president of the Angels since 2009, made the comments during the final moments of defense testimony in the long-running trial in California. mlb The team must be held responsible for Skaggs’ death. Carpino told jurors that Skaggs and team communications director Eric Kay, who was convicted of providing Skaggs with the fentanyl-laced pill that led to his death in 2019, were both drug addicts and also distributed drugs.
“Knowing what we know now, I wish we had listened,” Carpino said.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday in the lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family, which says the team knew or should have known that Kay had an addiction to drugs and dealing with players. Angels attorneys have argued that team officials did not know Skaggs was taking drugs and that any activity involving Skaggs and Kay occurred on their own time and in the privacy of the player’s hotel room on the team’s trip. texas,
The trial, which began in October, includes testimony from players including Angels outfielder mike troutteam staff, and Skaggs’ widow, Carly, and parents.
It’s been six years since Skaggs, 27, was found dead in a suburban area dallas The hotel room where he was staying was the beginning of a four-game series against the Angels. Texas RangersThe coroner’s report said the left-handed pitcher died of asphyxiation due to vomit and a toxic mixture of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system,
Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl to Skaggs and was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from K multiple times from 2017 to 2019, years in which he was accused of obtaining the pills and giving them to Angels players.
During the civil trial, witnesses described incidents of Kay’s erratic behavior at the stadium and attending drug rehabilitation before taking a trip to Texas. Kay’s now ex-wife, Camella Kay, told jurors that the team failed her husband, who worked long hours, and while he was hospitalized for a drug overdose in 2019, she heard he had pills meant for Skaggs.
Skaggs was a regular in the Angels’ starting lineup since late 2016 and battled recurring injuries during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After Skaggs’ death, MLB reached an agreement with the players’ union to begin testing for opioids and refer those who test positive to a treatment board.