Angels, Skaggs family reach last-minute settlement - ESPN

SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels agreed Friday to a last-minute settlement with the family of deceased pitcher Tyler Skaggs after jurors, deliberating for more than two days, sent queries that suggested the verdict might go in the family's favor.

The amount and terms of the settlement — ending a yearslong battle over culpability in Skaggs' death --were not immediately disclosed. The Skaggs family had been seeking $118 million in potential lost earnings plus added damages.

«The Skaggs family has reached a confidential settlement with Angels Baseball that brings to a close a difficult six-year process, allowing our families to focus on healing,» the family said in a statement. «We are deeply grateful to the members of this jury, and to our legal team. Their engagement and focus gave us faith, and now we have finality. This trial exposed the truth and we hope Major League Baseball will now do its part in holding the Angels accountable. While nothing can bring Tyler back, we will continue to honor his memory.»

Skaggs' family sued the Angels after Tyler Skaggs died in 2019 after an Angels employee, Eric Kay, gave him a fentanyl-laced pill that killed him. Kay is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence for his role in Skaggs' death. If Kay hadn't provided that pill, jurors were instructed, Skaggs would not have died that night.

«The death of Tyler Skaggs remains a tragedy, and this trial sheds light on the dangers of opioid use and the devastating effects it can have,» the Angels said in a statement.

Rusty Hardin, an attorney for the plaintiffs, welcomed the settlement and said the amount remains confidential. He said there were rules in place and that the Angels ignored them.

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