LA Angels president testifies he
wishes he'd known about drug use before pitcher's fatal overdose
[December 13, 2025]
By AMY TAXIN
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — The president of the Los Angeles Angels
baseball team testified Friday in a wrongful death lawsuit that the
fatal overdose of pitcher Tyler Skaggs was tough for the club and he
wished he had known sooner about drug use by the player and one of
the team's employees.
John Carpino, president of the Angels since 2009, made the comments
during the final moments of defense testimony in a long-running
trial in California over whether the MLB team should be held
responsible for Skaggs' death. Carpino told jurors that Skaggs and
team communications director Eric Kay, who was convicted of
providing Skaggs a fentanyl-laced pill that led to his 2019 death,
were both addicts and distributed drugs too.
“Knowing what we know now, I wish we would have heard,” Carpino
said.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday in the lawsuit filed by
Skaggs' family contending the team knew or should have known Kay was
addicted to drugs and dealing to players. Angels’ lawyers have
argued team officials didn’t know Skaggs was taking drugs and any
activity involving Skaggs and Kay happened on their own time and in
the privacy of the player’s hotel room on a team trip to Texas.
The trial, which began in October, has included testimony from
players including Angels outfielder Mike Trout, team employees, and
Skaggs' widow, Carli, and parents.
It’s been six years since 27-year-old Skaggs was found dead in the
suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were
supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A
coroner’s report said the left-handed pitcher choked to death on his
vomit and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found
in his system.
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Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout gestures toward a photo
of Tyler Skaggs in center field prior to a baseball game against the
Detroit Tigers in Anaheim, Calif., on July 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark
J. Terrill, File)
Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with
a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and 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 Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he
was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.
During the civil trial, witnesses described Kay’s erratic behavior
at the stadium and incidents leading to his attending drug
rehabilitation before heading out on the trip to Texas. Kay’s
now-ex-wife, Camela Kay told jurors the team failed her husband, who
worked lengthy hours, and that during his 2019 hospitalization for a
drug overdose, she heard he had pills intended for Skaggs.
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.
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