(NYTimes) – “Tyler Skaggs wrongful death trial enters final day of testimony: Where things stand”
December 12, 2025
(NYTimes) – “Tyler Skaggs wrongful death trial enters final day of testimony: Where things stand”
3 comments
A former in-house attorney for Major League Baseball — after numerous objections and a contentious sidebar — testified this week in the Tyler Skaggs wrongful death trial that the Los Angeles Angels never notified the league of Eric Kay’s drug use, and that MLB did not assist in his treatment. It was testimony that refuted past testimony by an Angels vice president.
Frank Coonelly, who was testifying as an Angels-hired expert on MLB policy and who also spent 12 years as the Pittsburgh Pirates team president, initially testified that Kay’s treatment was “quarterbacked” by the Angels’ employee assistance professional, which would be consistent with the standards of MLB’s Drug Policy Oversight Committee.
Kay is serving 22 years in federal prison for providing the fentanyl-laced pill that Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs ingested, leading to his death on July 1, 2019. The family has sued the team for wrongful death, alleging the Angels knew, or should have known, that Kay was providing pills to Skaggs.
Friday is expected to be the final day of testimony in the months-long trial. Angels team president John Carpino will testify, along with Molly Jolly, the team’s chief financial officer. The Angels also plan to call ex-MLB general manager Dan Duquette, a paid expert who will argue Skaggs would have earned between $0 and around $30 million in the rest of his playing career, according to court testimony. The Skaggs family’s expert has argued the pitcher would have earned more than $100 million.
The Athletic obtained transcripts of the proceedings and testimony from Dec. 9 and 10 for this story.
Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he has been following the trial and will review it at its conclusion.
>Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he has been following the trial and will review it at its conclusion.
While unlikely, I hope the court rules against the Angels. There’s a possibility, while very small, that Manfred could force Arte to relinquish control or ownership of the team.
I’ll get hate for this but if Skaggs was a druggy prior to the angels then the angels shouldn’t be accountable for that. Druggy will find ways to get drugs.
That being said, the things the angels did do wrong seems to be something that mlb should be going against the angels organization, not the Skaggs lawyers.
But I’m not following this case too closely and from what I have heard about it, it seems the Skaggs family are just using his death as an excuse to get paid.
3 comments
A former in-house attorney for Major League Baseball — after numerous objections and a contentious sidebar — testified this week in the Tyler Skaggs wrongful death trial that the Los Angeles Angels never notified the league of Eric Kay’s drug use, and that MLB did not assist in his treatment. It was testimony that refuted past testimony by an Angels vice president.
Frank Coonelly, who was testifying as an Angels-hired expert on MLB policy and who also spent 12 years as the Pittsburgh Pirates team president, initially testified that Kay’s treatment was “quarterbacked” by the Angels’ employee assistance professional, which would be consistent with the standards of MLB’s Drug Policy Oversight Committee.
Kay is serving 22 years in federal prison for providing the fentanyl-laced pill that Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs ingested, leading to his death on July 1, 2019. The family has sued the team for wrongful death, alleging the Angels knew, or should have known, that Kay was providing pills to Skaggs.
Friday is expected to be the final day of testimony in the months-long trial. Angels team president John Carpino will testify, along with Molly Jolly, the team’s chief financial officer. The Angels also plan to call ex-MLB general manager Dan Duquette, a paid expert who will argue Skaggs would have earned between $0 and around $30 million in the rest of his playing career, according to court testimony. The Skaggs family’s expert has argued the pitcher would have earned more than $100 million.
The Athletic obtained transcripts of the proceedings and testimony from Dec. 9 and 10 for this story.
Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he has been following the trial and will review it at its conclusion.
>Meanwhile, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he has been following the trial and will review it at its conclusion.
While unlikely, I hope the court rules against the Angels. There’s a possibility, while very small, that Manfred could force Arte to relinquish control or ownership of the team.
I’ll get hate for this but if Skaggs was a druggy prior to the angels then the angels shouldn’t be accountable for that. Druggy will find ways to get drugs.
That being said, the things the angels did do wrong seems to be something that mlb should be going against the angels organization, not the Skaggs lawyers.
But I’m not following this case too closely and from what I have heard about it, it seems the Skaggs family are just using his death as an excuse to get paid.