Remember Tyler Skaggs, the Angels pitcher who passed away from an accidental overdose in 2019? Back in October, Mike Trout testified that before Skaggs’ death, a team employee had warned him about possible dr*g abuse issues involving the Angels’ former communications director, Eric Kay. That testimony seemed to help bring the case to a close. Skaggs’ family and the Angels agreed to end the lawsuit on mutual terms.

However, the team still had to pay a significant settlement, though, and take responsibility for what happened!

“The jury foreman said after the settlement that the panel had agreed to award Skaggs’ family roughly $100 million when they were told to cease deliberations….” LA Times’ Bill Shaikin shared via X.

If you remember, in 2019, the 27-year-old left-hander was found dead in a hotel room outside Dallas. The Angels were staying there ahead of a four-game series against the Rangers. It was later ruled that he choked on his own vomit, with a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone found in his system.

Upon Trout’s testimony, Federal prosecutors blamed Eric Kay, the Angels’ former communications director, for Skaggs’ death. He was charged in 2020 with conspiracy to distribute drugs containing fentanyl. Kay was eventually sentenced to 22 years in federal prison in 2022. However, the story doesn’t end there.

In between those legal steps, Skaggs’ family filed a civil lawsuit against the Angels in California in 2021. They argued that the organization bore some responsibility for what happened.

That case has now come to an end. The family is receiving a reported $100 million settlement covering economic, emotional, and punitive damages. It also underscores that there’s still much more for MLB and its teams to do when it comes to protecting players and being proactive about the risk of overdose.

The case that forced the Angels and MLB to tweak their policy

Well, beyond Skaggs’ family finally getting some sense of justice, this case carries a much bigger meaning for baseball as a whole. Notably, before 2020, MLB didn’t even have random testing for opiates or other recreational dr*gs. However, that’s changed now that players are tested. And instead of automatic punishment, positive results can lead to treatment and support.

There’s also been progress on the labor side. Before minor league players unionized and signed a collective bargaining agreement in 2023, MLB ran the testing program on its own.

Now it’s a joint effort, and players have the right to appeal any discipline. Teams like the Angels have also tightened their own drug-use policies. They put more safeguards in place to better monitor and protect their players from overdose risks.

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So, while the sport lost a truly talented pitcher, the hope is that lessons learned from this tragedy will help make baseball a safer place moving forward.