SANTA ANA, Calif. \u2014 Ex-Angels first baseman C.J. Cron testified in a deposition played to jurors on Monday that he purchased OxyContin pills from Eric Kay around eight times \u2014 and was initially alerted to Kay\u2019s access to pills by then-teammate Tyler Skaggs.<\/p>\n
Kay, the former communications director for the Angels, is serving a 22-year federal prison sentence for providing the fentanyl-laced pill that Skaggs ingested, leading to his death on July 1, 2019.<\/p>\n
The deposition testimony marked the beginning of the Angels\u2019 defense in the wrongful death civil suit brought by Skaggs\u2019 family. While most of the witnesses called by the Skaggs side have also been designated to be called by the Angels, Monday marked an official shift after six weeks of the plaintiffs\u2019 case.<\/p>\n
Angels lawyers have argued they won\u2019t have enough time to put on their case, with just two weeks remaining before the trial\u2019s scheduled end date on Dec. 12. The judge, H. Shaina Colover, has expressed hope that deliberations would begin the following week. While the judge has lamented the trial\u2019s slow pace, she has said that both sides will get equal time to question their designated witnesses, many of whom have already testified.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s proceedings included Cron \u2014 who testified to his drug use at Kay\u2019s 2022 criminal trial \u2014 and the final Skaggs witness, Dr. Daniel Rascher, a sports economist who provided further context to the pitcher\u2019s potential future earnings.<\/p>\n
The Angels\u2019 case is centered on arguing that Skaggs drove the dynamic with Kay, and that he was a drug addict who proactively brought teammates into that dynamic. They argue that he was at fault for his own death and that his drug use would have impacted his free agent value.<\/p>\n
Cron, the first of several player depositions that the Angels will present, testified that Skaggs told him that Kay had access to pills and could provide them to him if needed. Cron said he did not remember the exact timing of that conversation, or the context in which it came up; only that he was likely complaining to Skaggs about a physical ailment.<\/p>\n
Cron said he approached Kay sometime after that conversation, and that Skaggs did not make the introduction. Their transactions consisted of Cron paying Kay in cash directly, Cron said, and Kay delivering the pills into Cron\u2019s shoe inside his locker. Cron said he was largely unaware of Skaggs\u2019 drug use, and that beyond connecting Kay and Cron, Skaggs wasn\u2019t a part of the transactions during Cron\u2019s tenure in Anaheim.<\/p>\n
However, after Cron had been traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, Skaggs was directly involved in one drug transaction between Cron and Kay. When the Rays were playing in Anaheim that May, Skaggs delivered 15 OxyContin pills to Cron at the team hotel, and Cron gave him back two. Cron said he later paid Kay in cash at Angel Stadium, understanding the pills were coming from him.<\/p>\n
Similarly, in July of 2018, when the Angels were going to Florida to play the Rays, Cron texted Skaggs, \u201cGet as many blues (opioids) from EK as you can, I\u2019ll pay you however much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLol he is off them,\u201d Skaggs wrote back. \u201cText him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cron testified that his initial text to Skaggs was a joke, but acknowledged that it read like a serious request. He wrote back to Skaggs that he didn\u2019t plan to text Kay. There was another text in May of 2019 where Cron asks Skaggs about getting opioids. Skaggs wrote back. \u201cHaha no more blues, Trump shut it down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later in his deposition, Skaggs attorney Daniel Dutko asked about the circumstances of Cron\u2019s return to the Angels in July of 2023. This was more than a year after he\u2019d testified about his drug use at Kay\u2019s criminal trial. Cron said that no one from the Angels asked him about anything related to his drug use. His only conversation on the subject was with an Angels PR official, who prepped him on the potential for questions from reporters on the topic.<\/p>\n
The Skaggs side has argued that trading for Cron in 2023, and not investigating him any further, undermines the Angels\u2019 defense; the team has said that they have a zero-tolerance policy for drug use, and would have gotten Skaggs help if they knew about his opioid use.<\/p>\n
Throughout the day, there were several lengthy public sidebars between the attorneys to argue over various issues.<\/p>\n
Rascher was called by the Skaggs side to testify about Skaggs\u2019 potential future earnings. Earlier in the trial, the Skaggs side called Jeff Fannell, an ex-MLB Players Association attorney, whose own study found that Skaggs would have earned between $109.3 million and $120.3 million.<\/p>\n
Rascher\u2019s purpose as a witness was to analyze Fannell\u2019s work from an economist\u2019s perspective and make necessary adjustments based on other factors, such as agent fees, inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the typical spending patterns of high-income earners.<\/p>\n
Rascher had done his own separate study, which found Skaggs would have earned a projected $54.7 million. Dutko\u2019s questions only focused on his analysis of Fannell\u2019s work. In that context, Rascher found that Skaggs would have earned $102.2 million and $114.7 million, given the aforementioned economic factors.<\/p>\n
On cross-examination, Angels attorney Kevin Yopp continually tried to ask about Rascher\u2019s separate study, in which he found a much lower number for Skaggs\u2019 future earnings. But because his questions were outside the scope of Dutko\u2019s direct examination, the judge sustained every objection along that line of questioning. Eventually, the judge instructed Yopp to change his line of questioning.<\/p>\n
That led to the Angels serving Rascher a subpoena in the courtroom hallway during a brief break in the testimony. The team\u2019s plan, Angels lawyer Todd Theodora told the judge, was to immediately recall Rascher to testify as the first witness in their case, allowing them to ask questions about Rascher\u2019s initial study.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the sides agreed to allow the Angels to ask a few questions about Rascher\u2019s initial findings. Dutko proactively brought it up on redirect examination, before Yopp could question Rascher further. At that point, Dutko showcased Rascher\u2019s research. The $54.7 million, Rascher said, was the average of all left-handed starting pitcher salaries who were the same age and hitting free agency around the same time. Rascher said that Skaggs most closely compared to pitcher Patrick Corbin, who earned more than $124 million in future contracts.<\/p>\n
Later, both sides also argued to the judge about including evidence from Skaggs\u2019 cell phone, which has been an issue throughout this case. While the specific evidence on the phone is unclear, Skaggs family lawyers have argued that the risk of prejudicing the jury would outweigh any testimony\u2019s overall value, among other concerns. Angels lawyers say it\u2019s central to their case in proving the timeline of Skaggs\u2019 drug use and the context in which he used drugs. The judge said she\u2019d hear further arguments on the topic on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
The Angels plan to recall Skaggs\u2019 wife, Carli Skaggs, and his mother, Debbie Hetman, this week.<\/p>\n
Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the 2014 Tommy John Surgery on Skaggs, will also testify this week. At issue is whether Hetman ever notified the surgeon of Skaggs\u2019 established 2013 Percocet addiction, given that ElAttrache prescribed post-surgery Percocet to Skaggs. Hetman testified that she told ElAttrache of her son\u2019s past drug use.<\/p>\n
Skaggs\u2019 agent Ryan Hamill, who testified at his deposition to being aware of Skaggs\u2019 2013 drug use, is scheduled to take the stand this week.<\/p>\n
The Angels will also call toxicologist expert Dr. Shaun Carstairs. He is expected to testify that the alcohol and oxycodone in Skaggs system \u2014 not provided by Kay \u2014 were significant contributing factors to his death. Skaggs expert, Dr. Stacey Hail, previously testified that the fentanyl in Skaggs\u2019 system \u2014 which was provided by Kay \u2014 caused Skaggs\u2019 death.<\/p>\n
To wrap their case next week, the Angels are expected to call the team\u2019s Employee Assistance Professional, Dr. Erik Abell, as well as their own potential future earnings expert, ex-MLB general manager Dan Duquette. The Angels have previously indicated that they plan to call Kay\u2019s mother, Sandy Kay, and team president John Carpino, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA ANA, Calif. \u2014 Ex-Angels first baseman C.J. Cron testified in a deposition played to jurors on Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2322,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-325731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-los-angeles-angels","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}