SANTA ANA, Calif. — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout testified Tuesday that a team employee alerted him to possible concerns about drug abuse by the Angels' former communications director, Eric Kay, before the 2019 accidental overdose death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs in a Texas hotel room.
Trout said he confronted Kay directly, telling him, «You have two boys at home, and you have to get this right.»
Trout's testimony brought the court case a step closer to establishing that Kay's behavior was raising enough red flags to warrant team intervention before he provided the drugs that killed Skaggs at age 27. The Skaggs family is suing the Angels for wrongful death, seeking $118 million and asserting that the team violated its own rules by allowing Kay to remain on staff despite the dangers posed by his drug abuse.
Two team officials, communications vice president Tim Mead and traveling secretary Tom Taylor, testified earlier that they were unaware of Kay's drug problem or had only indications of there being a problem with prescription medication. Attorneys representing the Skaggs family plan to call at least one witness — Kay's wife — whose pretrial deposition ran directly counter to Taylor's and Mead's testimony, according to a report by The Athletic.
The Skaggs family's lawsuit repeatedly refers to reporting by ESPN's T.J. Quinn in October 2019, citing sources who told federal investigators that team officials knew of Skaggs' drug use long before his death and that Kay was selling drugs to other players.
Trout, 34, is an 11-time All-Star and became the first Angels player to testify in the civil trial.
Trout's two-hour testimony alternated between lighthearted memories of his relationship with Skaggs and
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