Angels settle wrongful-death lawsuit with family of Tyler Skaggs

Santa Ana, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels reached a confidential settlement Friday with the family of late pitcher Tyler Skaggs in a wrongful-death lawsuit that argued the team bore responsibility for Skaggs’ 2019 overdose death after he was given a fentanyl-laced pill by the Angels’ former communications director, Eric Kay.

A two-month trial in Orange County Superior Court examined whether the Angels failed to prevent or address an environment of drug use within the organization and featured extensive testimony about how prescription medications circulated among players and staff and about Kay’s role in distributing pills. The case drew in high-level team figures and Skaggs’ relatives as witnesses, along with testimony about the dynamics of the Angels’ clubhouse in the years leading to Skaggs’ death.

The death occurred on July 1, 2019, in a hotel room in Southlake, Texas, before a Texas Rangers series opener. A coroner’s report found that Skaggs choked on his own vomit after ingesting a toxic mix that included fentanyl-laced oxycodone, alcohol and other substances. The jury’s question early in the deliberations focused on whether punitive damages should be considered, underscoring how the panel weighed the degree of responsibility among the team, Kay and Skaggs himself. Jurors later concluded the Angels were negligent and moved toward determining what share of responsibility each party should bear before a settlement was reached.

The Angels contended that Kay was responsible for distributing the drugs and that Skaggs had used them in his private time and of his own choosing, arguing the team was uninvolved in his death and would have offered help had it known a problem existed. The defense pointed to Skaggs’ private choices and personal history with painkillers as key factors in the tragedy.

The settlement ends the civil action without a judge’s ruling on assigned fault or damages. The terms remain confidential, as was disclosed by the parties. The litigation had drawn broad testimony about Skaggs’ potential earnings and the impact of his death on his family, highlighting the financial as well as the emotional cost of his loss.

The trial included testimony from Mike Trout, Angels president John Carpino and other team personnel, as well as relatives of Skaggs and Kay. Prosecution and plaintiffs portrayed a clubhouse culture in which Kay provided medications, arranged massage appointments and organized other perks for players, and where some teammates later described receiving pills from Kay on various occasions. The defense described a more ambiguous environment and insisted the team did not enable or contribute to Skaggs’ death.

Carli Skaggs, Tyler’s wife, and Debbie Hetman, his mother, testified about the arc of Skaggs’ career and his battles with painkiller addiction earlier in his life. Carli Skaggs said she was aware of his past Percocet use but did not know he remained using drugs at the time of his death. Attorneys for Skaggs’ family argued the Angels should have recognized warnings signs and acted more aggressively to curb access to pills and to Kay’s influence within the clubhouse.

The press conference after the settlement emphasized the family’s relief and a sense of finality. “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of their lives after six years of living with this,” said Rusty Hardin, an attorney for Skaggs’ family. The family said the trial had exposed the truth and urged Major League Baseball to act to hold teams accountable for similar concerns in the future. The Angels responded that while Skaggs’ death is a tragedy, the club had shown willingness to help players in need and would continue to support a culture of accountability across the league.

Among the most striking testimony were accounts of players’ behavior and Kay’s role in providing painkillers and other perks. Trout testified that he and others paid Kay for clubhouse stunts and that an undercurrent of concern existed about how funds were used, including potential drug use. Trout said he had never seen Skaggs engage in illegal drug use publicly, but he acknowledged the broader problem of pain management and the risk of narcotics in the clubhouse.

The jury’s deliberations had been ongoing when the settlement was announced, with jurors previously indicating they had found the Angels negligent and were weighing the distribution of fault among the players, Kay and the team. The resolution brings to a close a case that cast a harsh light on the intersection of professional sports, medical prescriptions and personal decisions. The trial's length and the testimony offered a stark portrait of how quickly a professional sports environment can become entangled with difficult, life-altering choices.

In reflecting on the outcome, advocates for Skaggs’ family stressed the importance of accountability and reform. The family’s attorney described the settlement as a step toward acknowledging responsibility and moving forward, while acknowledging that no payout could ever restore Skaggs or undo the pain felt by his loved ones. The Angels, for their part, reiterated their commitment to supporting players’ health and safety and to cooperating with MLB in addressing concerns raised by the case.

The case’s end closes a chapter that began when Skaggs died at 27 in a Texas hotel room on a trip tied to an Angels-Texas Rangers series. It also raises broader questions about how clubs monitor access to prescription medications and how they respond when concerns about substance use arise within their organizations. As the sport continues to grapple with issues of opioid usage and athlete welfare, the settlement may influence how similar cases are handled in the future and how clubs balance accountability with privacy and personal responsibility.

The agreement does not set a standard for MLB clubs nationwide, but it may affect how forthcoming teams are in addressing player health and safety concerns when legal action is involved. Skaggs’ family, meanwhile, has continued to honor his memory through charitable work and advocacy for better treatment and awareness around opioid misuse and athlete health.

The case has left unresolved other questions about the extent to which teams bear responsibility for the actions of staff members affiliated with the organization, and whether additional safeguards are needed to prevent a recurrence. While the settlement provides some closure for Skaggs’ family, it also serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of prescription drug misuse in the high-stakes world of professional sports. As MLB continues to scrutinize clubhouse culture and player health, observers will watch for policy changes and disciplinary guidance that may emerge in the wake of this high-profile dispute.