As a trial on whether Angels should be held at least partially responsible for the death of Tyler Skaggs, as the trial enters its third week, major league officials are closely monitoring the proceedings.
The trial will continue for several more weeks, and it would be premature for the league to determine what action, if any, it might take against the Angels until all the evidence is presented in court and a verdict or settlement is reached.
However, it is unlikely that the league will force Angels owner Arte Moreno to sell the team.
Any lawsuit would likely be delayed until the league conducts its own investigation and until the jury's verdict, if any, is fully reviewed by the appeals court.
The Skaggs family is looking for Damage totaled $785 million. As The Athletic first reported, this is based on an allegation that the Angels knew or should have known that former employee Eric Kay was using illegal drugs, including the pills he gave Skaggs on the night of the pitcher's death in 2019. The Angels deny the allegations.
The jury won't have to decide whether to award all that money or nothing. The jury will first have to determine who is responsible: the Angels, Kay, Skaggs and other parties. The jury will then decide what percentage of liability each of these parties should take and what the financial compensation should be.
For example, a jury may decide that damages should be awarded. $210 million — the amount the family stated as the minimum in the court document — and the Angels should bear one-third of the responsibility. Based on this example, their valuation would be $70 million.
In 1943, Philadelphia Phillies owner William Cox was banned for life for betting on baseball.
If history is any guide, if the league believes an owner deserves discipline, the owner is more likely to be suspended than banned. In 1993, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was suspended for one year for racist and insensitive remarks.
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was suspended three times: for two years for illegal donations to President Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign; a week after the judges were publicly criticized; and two years and five months for paying a player to unearth disparaging information about All-Star outfielder Dave Winfield. This latest suspension was initially announced as lifelong; Steinbrenner was later reinstated.
Kay, who supplied Skaggs with counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison. An autopsy found that Skaggs died in his Texas hotel room of asphyxiation, choking on his own vomit while under the influence of oxycodone, fentanyl and alcohol.
