Former LA Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney testified that he smoked marijuana with Tyler Skaggs and had knowledge some Angels players used opioids. When asked on the stand under cross-examination by Eric Kay’s defense team if these players did not use the normal channels of having a medical doctor prescribe them Heaney said that was a safe bet.
Heaney is signed for 2022 with the Dodgers but the dirty laundry at the trial in Texas is all Angels red.
Skaggs’ mother testified that the pitcher assured her in 2013 that he had quit a Percocet habit cold turkey.
Arte Moreno must be hoping the Olympics and the Superbowl keep this stuff on the back burner of media coverage. Under the pathetic leadership of his team president John Carpino the team communications director Eric Kay accompanied the team on the road right after he had finished a stint in rehab. Who lets a junkie near a population of road warriors with known pill issues? ESPN reported that the team’s lawyers were in attendance as were lawyers for Tyler’s mother Debbie Hetman. She is suing the Angels for negligence for letting a team employee with an opioid abuse past (and then-present) into the work environment.
Kay’s mentor Tim Mead, a paragon of MLB front office class for four decades, resigned his position as President of the Baseball Hall of Fame after about a year on the job.
How many other heads will roll? Will this gruesome negligence lead to the top? Don’t people like Moreno have “team presidents” in place to take the fall for this institutional recklessness?
Some firebrands may say Eric Kay can go to hell regardless of whether he is found guilty or innocent but life on earth will be a living hell for Arte Moreno if he has to pay out the hundred million or more that Skaggs would have earned over his lifetime. And all along the way to have his franchise’s reputation dragged thru the gutter because Tim Mead’s protege just had to get out in the field after a stay in rehab. If you’re not angry, you aren’t a fan… of the team or of competent organizational oversight.
Keep talking those Olympics, that Superbowl, hope this thing gets over fast. Nothing else has changed by the way, coulda been any franchise but it had to be the one that put the fresh rehab graduate back in the field right away, yeah it was just the bad luck of the draw that landed on the Angels and their reefer-stained dirty laundry.
I knew something was up with skaggs. Every start, no matter what the temperature, this guy would be sweating like crazy.
I just figured it was a lack of water, but I’m thinking the pills/alcohol also had an effect on him.
As soon as I heard Tyler was snorting pink and blue lines, I lost interest. Kid with money, spare time, liked to party, would have dogged it for a prescription, provided by a friend or a dealer if Kay was nowhere to be found. Tyler was a party animal, pitcher second and it showed. Let’s expose all the other players…smh.
I’m all for hanging Carpino by his testicles but this won’t get him fired. We need a racial rant caught on tape.
That’s the personal responsibility part. There is no denying Skaggs was a party animal/junkie. I think trying to blame others is a certain amount of bullshit. That said, if the lethal drugs (or really any narcotics) were supplied by Angels employees, that’s pretty awful.
Clearly, this calls for a complete rethink of the entire front office. Carpino has made it clear he might be a good businessman, but he has no business running this team. He’s old enough to make retirement an option for the sake of appearances. Halos need a President of Baseball Operations. Perry reports to him. Somebody with deep knowledge of MLB needs to take this rudderless ship and get it under control.
“Need a POBO” is the week whine of the era. It accomplishes nothing most of the time other than allowing an AGM to get promoted so he doesn’t leave.
I could give a crap if we get a POBO but I would love it if they found a way to make Carpino go away. I’m not even sure he’s a good business man. I am sure he’s crap in a baseball front office. I’d love it if everyone above PTP in the FO went away. Arte’s not going anywhere unless the stadium deal collapses, and even then probably not. Demanding he somehow be removed is stupid because it just won’t happen unless he joins the KKK and kills some puppies. But if all his friends went away, he mellowed out, and they just let the GM manage generally we’d probably be OK.
Yes, I think the Rams should just fire Les Snead, especially if they go on to the win this Sunday, since after all, who needs a President Of Player Personnel Operations? Stan Kroenke can just be the POFBO all by himself! —-BOOYAH!!!!
😆 💪 🤘 👈
PS, name any championship team who won without a POPPO in MLB, NFL, NBA, hell even the NHL, WNBA or MLS…….I’m sure some fool with no life can dig deep in cyberspace and find a corn hole or watermelon seed spitting team league that won without one……
If this doesn’t eventually get Carpino fired, he’s just bulletproof.
There is scandal after scandal in this organization. Perhaps Carpino and others are being held because firing them would appear to admit some wrongdoing/failure/guilt they must strongly deny…but man does this team just need a new professional in charge of culture and personnel.
Oh yeah. They can’t fire Carpo during the law suit. If it drags along enough maybe he can “get tired” and retire. Otherwise they can’t tip their hand like that. But Gah dayem that man needs to be let go. He sucks loud.
“But Debbie, Eric Kay assured us he had quit all those drugs cold turkey so we let him work.”
Great point about Kay being on the road. His job description and background don’t scream “necessary personnel.”
And it is very much in line with my theory on this thing since day one.
When I worked in radio there was always one guy whose unofficial job was to supply on air talent and concert guests with drugs. This is a core, pretty important, commonly accepted job in the industry.
However, that person was kept in a promotions office or as a club DJ and away from the top brass. Oh sure the top brass had to know we were high, most had crazy DJ days themselves as they worked up the ladder. But there was just enough separation that they could feign shock and fire a guy if he got busted.
Kay was probably that guy for the Angels and I’d bet every other team has one. After all, wouldn’t you rather have your guys scoring drugs from someone you kind of know that will keep it hush rather than hitting the street or interwebz?
Assuming you are right, let’s fine the team and criminally prosecute the people in the know for aiding and abetting drug dealers, but I don’t think we should reward Skagg’s family for Skaggs’ bad decisions by making the Angels pay them.
Well that’s a wonderful idea but would require folks to name names and that is something that does not necessarily happen. It’s the ole ‘honor among thieves’ thing.
If the Angels are dumb enough to have any concrete connection between Kay’s illegal activities and top brass I’d be shocked.
Kays presence on the road may raise some red flags, but I find it hard to believe the team knowingly put Kay back in his clandestine position of supplying drugs to players after he had just completed extensive hospitalization and rehab for his addictions.
Even the Angels aren’t that stupid.
But Arte. So cheap. So evil.
Good point. If Kay was just out of rehab I doubt they expected him to be in his old role.
But really, a guy with Skaggs money and relative fame would have no problem lining up sources in various cities; especially one he was guaranteed to visit several times per season.
What I felt was so disgusting about the information that’s been released, is that Skaggs had no problem contacting Kay for a fix right after Eric returned from rehab despite Tyler’s money and contacts.
It would appear that the depth of Skaggs addiction and accompanying narcissism knew no bounds.
I think narcissistic behavior and being obsessed with scoring the next fix no matter what is prototypical addict behavior.
It’s true. I listen to a lot of 70s soul music, so I know what a man will do for his next fix.
I want to know how widespread the issue of using heavy painkillers to stay on the field is across the sport. My guess is it’s rampant.
I always come back to the question of is it right to let these men destroy their bodies in their twenties and thirties for our entertainment.
How would the sport feel about even longer rehab times? Longer or sooner IL stints? Just to keep these guys from masking the pain with opioids?
But here I am still a massive fan, so maybe i’m just a hypocrite.
With all the cortisone and PRP shots, MRIs, and the cleaning out of bone chips these guys are being treated a little bit like machines. It wouldn’t be surprising if many turn to better living through chemistry.
I’m confident that pain pills are super common in the year or two leading up to free agency. Take a look at how few games guys tend to miss over that time and how the injuries tend to pile up after they sign the free agent deal.
Baseball players are destroying their bodies less than pretty much every sport. But I understand the moral dilemma. There have been a few times I’ve felt uneasy after seeing a boxer get seriously hurt. I know the appeal of my dollars helped push that guy into the ring.
I’ve never felt that over baseball, though.
Hypocrite!
Also remember these guys and their families are set for life financially. Some for multiple generations all for our entertainment.
Yes, some guys just get league minimum, but I for one would love to play a game for league minimum.
I’d love to play in the minor leagues for the hope of playing for league minimum.
Sign me up for a Jeff Mathis career!
They Demonized weed until recently. What about Mushrooms and other alternative methods? The stigma on weed is just stupid.
They all need to be studied and I’m sure have their own health issues. Safe to guess opioids are not the best answer. No perfect way to deal with pain.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dyey/psychedelics-and-pain-relief
I mean I want to agree with the Skaggs family about why would Kay be around people that might take drugs when he himself is trying to get off drugs. However, were the Angels in the situation where they would have had to pay Kay to not do his job and then pay someone else to actually do his job because you can’t fire someone for going to rehab? If that’s the case then the system/government is to blame.
Can the team take the field on the road without its director of communications? Suddenly this is a bureaucracy on the plane to Texas?
Here’s what the communications department does for the MLBPA:
“The Communications department is responsible for developing, implementing, and coordinating all media messaging, official releases and announcements, and social media initiatives on behalf of the Players Association, in accordance with the overall communications strategy developed by the Executive Director. On a daily basis, it disseminates key information relating to the Association’s agenda, answers questions from reporters, helps shape stories and commentary both here in the United States and abroad, and assists with internal communications among Players and staff, all of which are designed to increase awareness, understanding, and support for the union’s programs, policies, and positions. As part of this effort, the department manages and operates a suite of Web sites, social media and electronic communications platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, and has in-house capabilities including video and graphic editing, production services, and language translation.”
That’s a much easier job to do if you are actually in the same place as the players and reporters and darn near impossible to do if you aren’t. Assuming the team communications department does similar tasks, it is 100% reasonable for them to take Eric Kay on the road.
It’s also 100% reasonable to employ a former drug-addict, especially since it would violate the law to discriminate against a person based on their addiction.
Absent evidence the team knew Kay was a current addict and a drug dealer, the team should not be responsible. Honestly, even then I don’t think the team should have to pay millions of dollars. Skaggs wasn’t a hapless victim. He was a wealthy person who made bad decisions that hurt his family.
Of course, the current trial is about Kay, not the Angels, and I have no problem with Kay going to jail as a drug dealer.
If the MLB functions anything like the NFL the Comm Director will be with the team anywhere where team reps, coaches and players will be expected to make statements…. so report injuries, comment post game, etc