LA Angels Tuesday News Crash: Trout-O-Graphs

Here is a sponsored MLBTR link about sending in items to be signed by Mike Trout. The promotion ends December 1st.

The Mets got Marcus Semien from the Rangers in exchange for Brandon Nimmo. To paraphrase, the Mets didn’t want to send the same guys back out there in 2026 to suck as bad as they sucked in 2025. The Braves re-signed Right-hander Joel Payamps. Right-handed reliever Yerry Rodriguez got a minor league deal with the Yankees.

Tatsuya Imai does not want to join his fellow countrymen on the Dodgers. Instead he wants to beat those guys.

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi

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BannedInLA
Super Member
26 minutes ago

Is there any actual smoke to the Okamoto signing with the Angels talk or is it simply wish casting by the fans? That said, I do perceive the Angels to be a decent destination for Japanese talent for reasons of geography, etc. Obviously the Doyers are #1 in this regard but, Anaheim seems to be a solid secondary option.

Like everyone else, I’m hoping to see Rada in the opening day lineup and where is it written that guys like Schanuel, Moore and some of our pitchers won’t realize incremental improvement?

I don’t think this team will (nor should) do much this Winter – a potential Okamoto signing notwithstanding of course.

GrandpaBaseball
Legend
1 hour ago

Question? The question is looking for a simple yes or no, question is do you believe you are responsible for your own actions or inactions? In today’s real world the answer from Gen Z and Gen Y would be no more than likely imho, the rest of us just might side with a simple yes. Did Kay supply the deceased player with illegal drugs by selling them to that player and the answer is yes then GUILTY. Off to prison. Are the Angels responsible for Kay’s actions? Only if they knew Kay was dealing, now prove it. If proved, is it the family who should profit from the death? Only the wife and children and then limited to what the future estimated earnings would have been, again imho. Parents, then no because they knew about the addiction.

I, as many of you, do not care for why Arturo has ruined this franchise, this brand, this organization, this team, because he did it for the money period. But should he pay through the nose for the fact this pitcher had a substance abuse problem? Why didn’t his family step in and help him? Could it have been all about the money? This is what is driving this case is it not. The money, because the main culprit is already serving time.

At what point do we stop taking responsibility for ourselves to make the choice of whether or not we use drugs indiscriminately or not.

Should Kay or Means or any other employee be held responsible that Tyler used drugs because they were employed by the Angels, to a certain degree yes depending on what they knew at the time and their own involvement, but to believe that it was other folks that were totally responsible for Mr. Skaggs death is ludicrous, again in my humble opinion. It’s time that people stand up and take their own responsibility and foe their poor decisions, if they pass on because of being an addict it should not fall on anyone who had nothing to do with it just because they own the business that employed the addict.

RexFregosi
Super Member
48 minutes ago

Seems the Skaggs team has shifted
from the Angels knew

to the Angels should have known, they don’t follow their HR policy, they lie about MLB involvement, and Eric Kay is POS.

who knows how the jury decides but I’d say tough luck to the family and these victims would not be getting any reward.

Pineapple12
Legend
2 hours ago

Kudos to everyone who took the time to write an IIWP piece. I’ve really enjoyed reading them.

I’m impatiently waiting for the Winter Meetings. Outside of plugging the gigantic 3B hole with Okamoto, I have very little interest in shelling out a multi-year contract this offseason. We’ve finally hit the final lap of the Rendone disaster — just ride it out, baby. Impending lockout coming in 2027.

Sign a bunch of veterans to 1-year deals, build a good clubhouse, and see how far the younger guys can take us.

C – O’Hoppe / D’Arnaud
1B – Schanuel
2B – Moore
SS – Neto
3B – Okamoto
LF – Trout (he wants to play the field, idc anymore)
CF – Rada
RF – Adell
DH – Soler

SP – Soriano, Kikuchi, Detmers, Rodriguez, Dana/Aldegheri

RP – Burke, Bachman, Silseth, Joyce, Stephenson, etc

Seeing how Ward brought back GRod in a trade, I think we have to evaluate what Adell would bring back with the lack of quality right-handed outfielders available. I highly doubt we trade Jo and it would break my heart, but this would be the market to capitalize on.

Anyways, see yall in a few weeks for the meetings. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

Last edited 2 hours ago by Pineapple12
Roy Hobbs
Super Member
10 minutes ago
Reply to  Pineapple12

Pragmatically, this is what things look like today, although I don’t believe Moore will be starting at 2B. But if you’re willing to do that, then why even bother with Okamoto, just play Guzman at 3B. if one is considering 2026 a washout and 2027 as well, you could just let all the money fall off and start with essentially a clean slate in 2028. I think regardless of what you’re doing, you need to trade Adell since he is a FA in two years. You’re faced with considering whether or not you want to sign anyone to a 5 year deal who is 30, even if they will still have 3 years left after 2027, because they would be at least 32 in 2028 when you want to compete.

If one is writing off 26 and 27, who cares how bad you are. I think that Arte’s choices are to just be bad this year and shoot for 2028 and then sign FAs, or do as Turks suggested and bump the payroll up, even to just under the cap, and sign and acquire some players who will help you sell tickets this year and still be productive in 2028, and trade the guys like Ward and Adell who won’t be here then. I would support either one but unfortunately they are not likely to do either of them intentionally. You also have to consider that in 2028, all the players that are cheap now won’t be then.

As evidenced by the IIWPMs, the club has put themselves in a terrible position.

Angels2020Champs
Legend
2 hours ago

Would like anyone opinion on yesterday’s trails situation:

SANTA ANA, Calif — As the family of Tyler Skaggs prepares to wrap up its case, its final witness before the holiday break argued that Eric Kay should have been fired by the Los Angeles Angels long before the pitcher’s death.

Ramona Powell, an expert in Human Resources, testified on Friday that Angels should have fired Kay, the ex-communications director, years before he gave the fentanyl-laced pill that killed pitcher Tyler Skaggs, and that the team continually failed to follow its own policies in addressing Kay’s behavior.

Asked if she had ever seen a case like this in her decades-long HR career, Powell simply said, “No.”

Kay is serving 22 years in federal prison for providing the aforementioned pill that killed Skaggs on July 1, 2019. Skaggs’ family is suing the team for wrongful death, alleging the club knew or should have known that Kay was giving players drugs. Kay voluntarily resigned from the Angels in November 2019, while receiving a severance package, according to his ex-wife, Camela Kay.

“It wouldn’t have gotten to this point, to be honest, if I was running the HR team and these things were happening,” Powell said. “In 2019, he wouldn’t have been there.”

Powell was the final witness before a week-long break in the trial for Thanksgiving, and the penultimate witness in the Skaggs’ case. She was paid by the Skaggs legal team to testify, but noted under oath she doesn’t testify in cases if she doesn’t believe in the party’s argument. The Skaggs side will call their final witness on the morning of Dec. 1, and then the Angels will have two weeks to present their defense before the jury begins deliberations.

Powell’s testimony highlighted what she said were copious missteps over the years in addressing Kay’s conduct. A key contention in this case is whether the Angels followed their own policies, with the HR and executive staff’s actions being put under the microscope throughout the entire trial.

On direct examination by Skaggs attorney Daniel Dutko, Powell noted instances in which she said the Angels did not follow their own policies, and failed to reasonably manage Kay and his addiction.

Cross-examination by Angels attorney Kevin Dorse included many questions that were, as the judge said, calling for speculation or were outside the scope of Powell’s direct examination and area of expertise. Dorse seemingly tried to highlight the reasonableness of the Angels’ actions and contrast Kay’s behavior with Skaggs’.

When questioned by Dutko, Powell highlighted a doctor’s note that allowed Kay to return to work from a six-week outpatient rehab absence in 2019, a month before Skaggs died.

The note simply read “leave extended till 5/31/19”, which Angels VP for HR Deborah Johnston had previously testified was adequate for Kay to return. However, Powell noted that the Angels’ own policies require specific dates of return to work and specifics on any work restrictions. The note was also a screenshot in a text, not an actual note, which Powell said made it problematic.

“This is not a return to work note,” Powell said. “This is an extension of a leave.”

Powell said that on numerous occasions, there would have been reason to investigate Kay and terminate him, but no investigation ever occurred. She said that a justified investigation would have led to checking Kay’s emails and that the team should have subsequently contacted law enforcement regarding the use of his work email to purchase drugs on the OfferUp web platform.

Johnston had testified that references to Oxy in the emails would have made her think it was a reference to OxiClean cleaning products, rather than the drug OxyContin. An email about Roxy shirts, Johnston said, would have led her to think “female shirts,” and a mention of “blue m30 lego studs, made in Mexico” wouldn’t have raised an issue, since Kay had children.

Powell said that finding baggies of drugs at Kay’s home, which Kay’s ex-wife, Camela Kay, said occurred on Oct. 2, 2017, could have also led to contacting police.

Dorse’s cross-examination was interrupted early to conduct a public sidebar, outside the view of the jury. The Angels’ lawyer had begun asking questions surrounding the Angels’ treatment of Kay and how it corresponded to MLB’s policies — which has become a huge point of contention in this trial and was again during Dorse’s questioning.

The Angels have argued that the team was following MLB’s guidelines by sending Kay for treatment to their team-hired Employee Assistance Professional, Dr. Erik Abell. The Skaggs side has argued that MLB’s policies require direct reporting to the league, as stated in MLB’s policy.

Johnston, the Angels’ HR director, testified under oath on Nov. 10 that the Angels did notify MLB of Kay’s abuse and that he was being treated and tested under MLB’s policy. A league spokesperson told The Athletic that the league was never notified of Kay’s addiction or involved in his treatment.

The judge wouldn’t allow Dorse to ask Powell about MLB policy, since it was outside the scope of Angels team policies — her hired area of expertise.

This, in part, led to objections to Dorse’s questions being sustained dozens of times during his cross-examination. And at times, it was unclear what the defense was trying to argue. At one point, Dorse went through an entire line of questioning about the positivity that Kay brought to the job.

“Eric Kay loved his job. Do you understand that? Are you aware of that?” the Angels attorney asked.

“Did you know that (Angels PR employee Grace McNamee) had a nickname for Kay, ‘Big Sunshine’?”

“Does it make sense that media reporters are very observant at their job?” Dorse asked, which was objected to and sustained. He then asked, “Would you agree you haven’t seen a single complaint from any of the media about how Eric did his job?”

Powell said she didn’t look for media complaints and wasn’t clear on whether there is even a reporting apparatus for media to file a complaint.

Dorse attempted to challenge Powell’s credentials and expertise by pointing out that she did not have a college degree. Powell responded by saying she has spent decades in the HR field, but finished a few credits short of graduation due to a family emergency. He also questioned her experience by asking, “You have not been an expert witness in any case involving a professional sports team, is that right?” Powell responded by saying, “No, that is not right. I have worked for professional sports teams in my role as an expert witness.”

At the heart of Dorse’s questioning was an argument that the Angels acted reasonably. Regarding the doctor’s note under contention, Dorse asked if the note implied that Kay could return to work without restrictions.

“Not at all,” Powell replied.

Similarly, Dorse asked about the Angels placing Kay in outpatient rehab in 2019, which led to him being tested as part of his treatment. “Wasn’t it a positive that the Angels gave Eric six weeks off in that 2019 timeframe to go through the program?” Dorse asked.

“I testified that 2019 wouldn’t have happened if reasonable HR practices would have been followed,” Powell responded, later noting that Kay was never drug tested under the Angels’ policy.

Lastly, Dorse tried to argue, through his questions, that the Angels couldn’t have fired Kay, since it meant they would have been favoring a player over a regular employee.

“Do you agree it’s a bona fide concern for employers in California if they favor a prominent, rich employee and don’t treat [them] similarly to a normal office worker,” Dorse asked.

Powell responded by bringing up testimony she’d read from earlier in the trial — in which the Angels terminated a 63-year-old custodian for drinking a White Claw during her lunch break, without realizing the beverage was alcoholic. “That was more of a concern of inconsistency to me,” Powell said.

A similar question was asked by Dorse, which led to another objection. Dutko even seemed to make light of all the various objections that had been sustained during the cross-examination.

“Does it bother any of your HR instincts that the plaintiffs’ claim in this case is that a celebrity millionaire athlete should be able to engage in drug conduct at work in any way similar to Eric Kay, and not be terminated?” Dorse asked.

“Do I even need to say the objections?” Dutko said. “I mean, I am happy to say them for the record.”

The judge asked, “So you object,” to which Dutko said, “Yes, I object.”

The objection was sustained.

Court will not resume until the start of December, with the entire week of Thanksgiving off. The Angels have been expressing concern to the judge that they will not have adequate time to present their defense, asking the judge to require Skaggs lawyers to end their case earlier last week.

The judge noted to both parties on Wednesday that the vast majority of the Skaggs’ witnesses have also been designated as witnesses by the Angels. That, the judge said, meant that the Angels have been putting on their case throughout the majority of the Skaggs’ case in chief.

One of those witnesses designated by both sides was Skaggs’ stepfather, Dan Ramos. In completing his testimony on Friday, Ramos was asked by Angels attorneys about text messages indicating Skaggs was using opiates to recover from Tommy John surgery, despite Skaggs kicking a Percocet addiction the year prior.

In a text message, Skaggs himself referred to his 2013 Percocet use as an “addiction.” Ramos — who said he helped Skaggs get clean in 2013 — testified that he didn’t remember how he assisted Skaggs in doling out his post-surgery medication. Angels lawyer Elizabeth Lachman also accused Ramos of being “a source of pressure” for Skaggs, citing a 2016 text message in which Ramos — who worked as a coach for his step-son — chided him about not pitching through injuries.

Ramos also denied knowledge of the whereabouts of his son, Garet Ramos, whom the Angels view as a key witness in their case. The team believes Garet deleted a text message from Skaggs’ phone after he died, but has been unable to locate him for questioning.

The Angels will have two weeks for their defense, with testimony expected to wrap on Dec. 12. Previously, Dec. 5 had been an off-day for the trial due to the Angels’ law firm’s holiday party. However, a half day was added to the calendar for that day, and deposition videos will be played for the jury.

Deliberations are expected to occur Dec. 15-17.

Jeff Joiner
Editor
Legend
2 hours ago

We’ve all been in the work force.

What would happen if we were found sound asleep in the middle of a workday? Or flipped out to the point a team bus had to take us to a hotel and leave the team stranded? Or done the litany of odd thing’s Kay did?

I’d have been fired. Kay wasn’t even reprimanded.

AnAngelsFan
Super Member
2 hours ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

But the legal question isn’t whether Kay should have been fired. The question is whether the Angels should have known he was using his position to deal drugs to players.

Kay “should have been fired” is relevant only because the defense is arguing if the Angels had done an investigation they would have discovered evidence of the drug dealing. But if nobody was complaining about Kay, why should the Angels be required to investigate and fire him. Companies should be free to depart from policies in an employee’s favor when there is no reason to believe other employees are being harmed.

“He’s gross, weird, and a drug addict seeking treatment, but the players love him” does not equate to “we should have known that Skaggs was also a drug addict and that Kay is dealing drugs to Skaggs.”

Angels2020Champs
Legend
2 hours ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

HR didn’t do their job clearly. Kay was protected because he was someone’s guy and did his job ok-ish… I guess. It’s not like we are choosing the cream of the crop here. There’s probably an organizational policy along the lines of see something, join in the ‘fun’ or DONT SAY ANYTHING! Literally zero enforceable checks and balances.

But it’s not the tail that wags the dog here. Players have an enormous amount of pull and we all know they get away with pretty much anything – trashtros, gambling, drugs, womanizing. To think a fat, socially awkward and small dicked individual in Kay at any point could influence a player or entire organization’s dysfunctional into a positive direction is far fetched.

Angels2020Champs
Legend
2 hours ago

For me, if the Skagg’s case is hindering on their ‘expert’ HR witness, as a juror I’m not totally buying it. With maybe the exception of employee benefits, which you can research yourself, Human Resources is good for what exactly? Help prevent big lawsuits against an employer with check boxes?? If Kay goes to HR and says he’s being hazed into eating pimple juices and taking fast ones to the body, I guaran-damn-tee baseball players aren’t getting in trouble and said whistleblower is getting pushed out the door one way or another.

The Angels are not an employer I’d want to work for. Their product on the field and across the organization suck. There’s no simpler way to put it. The players performance speaks for itself. The people that get the front office jobs, run field ops, etc are straight from the who do you know not what you know variety.

As we have all mentioned, no one is looking good in this case. I can’t even see any positives coming out of this. Players still control what they put into their body, what culture they want to be apart of (remember The Last Dance doc? Jordan walks into the hotel room as a rookie and gets to choose his corner of weed, blow, boob, etc… he chose OJ) and generally get the benefit of the doubt, if not the whole red carpet treatment, in regards to most everything in life.

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