AROUND THE HORN
The family of former Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs filed lawsuits Tuesday in Texas and California charging the team and two former employees with negligence in his drug-related death two years ago. The lawsuits — filed by Skaggs’ parents in Texas and his wife in California — name the Angels organization as well as former communications directors Tim Mead and Eric Kay as defendants. Neither complaint specified how much money the family is seeking. Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his suburban Dallas hotel room on July 1, 2019, before the start of what was supposed to be a four-game series against the Rangers. Kay was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on drug charges for allegedly providing Skaggs with the drugs that caused his overdose death. Kay was charged with drug distribution and drug conspiracy in Skaggs’ overdose death, according to the indictment in Fort Worth, Texas. The charges carry a maximum of a life sentence and 20 years in prison, respectively. His trial is set to begin Aug. 16. A coroner’s report said Skaggs had choked to death on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the drugs fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, which Kay was accused of providing. Kay was the Angels’ director of communications, and he served as their public relations contact on many road trips. He was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs’ death, and he never returned to the team. Mead was Kay’s boss, and the lawsuits allege that Mead knew about Kay’s issues with drug addiction, including that he was distributing drugs to players. “In spite of this knowledge, the Angels continued to allow Kay to have unrestricted access to the players and even permitted him to accompany the team when it traveled for away games,” the suit says. Mead’s attorney Eric D. Vandevelde denied the allegations. Mead left the Angels in April 2019 to become President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Mead left the Hall in May 2021, saying in a statement that “these last 22 months have been challenging in maintaining my responsibilities.” Team officials have said they hadn’t been aware that Skaggs was an opioids user and didn’t know any employees were providing drugs to players.
Blue Jays, Marlins: The Blue Jays acquired injured OF Corey Dickerson and reliever Adam Cimber in a trade with the Marlins, who obtained INF Joe Panik and minor league reliever Andrew McInvale. Dickerson is sidelined with a bruised left foot and is expected to be in a walking boot for at least two more weeks. He’s batting .260 with two HRs and 14 RBIs. Dickerson was an All-Star for the Rays in 2017, when Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was a bench coach. The right-handed Cimber has a 2.88 ERA in 33 games. Panik is batting .246 with two HRs and 11 RBIs. McInvale has a 2.55 ERA in 15 minor league games.
Giants: Reliever Gregory Santos was suspended for 80 games without pay under MLB’s drug program following a positive test for Stanozolol. The 21-yearold right-hander made his big league debut April 22 and was 0-2 with a 22.50 ERA in two innings over three games when he was optioned to the minors six days later. Santos became the third player suspended this year under the major league program, after Marlins pitcher Paul Campbell and Rockies 3B Colton Werker.