The most tragic story in baseball this year was the death of Tyler Skaggs, the Los Angeles Angels pitcher who passed away in a hotel room. Eventually, his death was linked to opioid use. Skaggs’ passing was shocking and sent an outpouring of support throughout baseball to the Angels community, and a combined no-hitter the Angels threw on a night they paid tribute to his life was a touching moment.
But according to reports, at least some in the Angels organization knew much more about the drug abuse that ended his life earlier this year. According to a report from ESPN’s Outside The Lines, an employee in the team’s public relations department not only knew about Skaggs’ opioid addiction, but helped provide the pitcher drugs and abused them with Skaggs himself.
A public relations employee for the Los Angeles Angels told federal investigators that he provided oxycodone to Tyler Skaggs and abused it with him for years, and that two team officials were told about Skaggs’ drug use long before his death, according to two sources familiar with the investigation.
Eric Kay, the Angels’ director of communications, also gave U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents the names of five other players who he believed were using opiates while they were Angels, the sources said.
Skaggs was 27 when he died, and an autopsy released in August found that fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol were all in his system. According to that autopsy, Skaggs choked on his own vomit, likely due to an overdose. The OTL report detailed not only how Kay would obtain drugs for Skaggs, but the depth of his addiction and how often he abused the drugs that ended his life.
Kay told investigators he illegally obtained six oxycodone pills and gave three to Skaggs a day or two before the team left California for the road trip to Texas, according to the two sources. Kay told DEA agents he does not think the pills he obtained for Skaggs were the same ones the pitcher took the day he died because Skaggs typically would ingest the pills immediately after receiving them from Kay, the sources said. Skaggs also texted Kay the day the team left for Texas seeking more oxycodone, a request Kay told investigators he was unable to fulfill, the sources said.
It only makes the tragedy worse that his addiction was fed by an Angels employee, but it also shows just how tough an addiction is to combat. Twice Skaggs sought treatment for his addiction, but reportedly made an arrangement for Kay to supply him with drugs that he later paid for. There’s no statement from the Angels about the report just yet, but we’ll update this post if they release one.
