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SALT LAKE CITY — The trial of a former Los Angeles Angels employee charged in Texas with supplying fentanyl to a player who later died from an overdose revealed Tuesday many unsettling stories of major league life beyond the baseball diamond.
Former University of Utah standout C.J. Cron was among several former Angels — and Salt Lake Bees players — called to testify in the trial against Eric Kay, a former Angels communications director. Kay was charged in the North Texas U.S. District Court two years ago with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in relation to the death of Tyler Skaggs, as well as drug distribution charges.
Skaggs was found dead in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019, ahead of a series between the Angels and Texas Rangers. A coroner report later found that Skaggs died after choking on his own vomit after consuming a mix of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol, according to federal prosecutors.
The jury trial in the case began last week but many of Skaggs' former teammates weren't called to testify until Tuesday, according to court records.
Cron admitted to buying and using oxycodone pills from Kay on about eight occasions, including after he was traded to Tampa Bay in 2018, according to a series of tweets by ESPN reporter T.J. Quinn, who is covering the trial in Fort Worth, Texas.
Cron reportedly told the court that he had only received pills from Kay after Skaggs referred him to the then-Angels employee, and that Kay would put pills either in his locker or shoe. Cron later said that he learned to not mix opioids and alcohol as a result of a "previous legit experience with (prescription) painkillers," Quinn tweeted.
Why did Cron take them?
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) February 15, 2022
Cron: "It was just a bad decision."
Says he got pills from Kay maybe eight times. Also got some from Kay after he left Angels. Kay would put them in his locker or shoe.
Cron, then with TB, says he discussed oxys over text with Skaggs in 2018. Asked Skaggs to get pills from Eric Kay. Skaggs responded to text Kay directly. Skaggs never said he had another source.
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) February 15, 2022
Matt Harvey, a former All-Star pitcher, who briefly played for the Angels and Bees in 2019, was the first player called to the stand Tuesday. Harvey admitted that oxycodone and Tylenol were common drugs players would use.
He also told the court he was "a partier" who had previously used cocaine while with the New York Mets and tried oxycodone in 2019 when it was offered to him by Skaggs, according to Quinn.
Former Angels and Bees pitchers Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian also testified they had received and used opioids supplied by Kay, Los Angeles Times reporter Jorge Castillo reported. Bedrosian reportedly told the court he had a bad experience and returned the remaining pills back to Kay.
Three other former Bees players — Andrew Heaney, Blake Parker and Garrett Richards — were also among 78 people the government listed as witnesses for the trial but were not called on. The prosecution rested its case Tuesday afternoon following testimony from a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent and from Skaggs' widow, Carli.
Skaggs, who was 27 when he died, played in 96 big league games with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Angels between 2012 and 2019. His final appearance came two days before he was found dead.
He also made 11 starts in Salt Lake in 2014, 2016 and 2017 — mostly in rehab appearances after undergoing Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2015 season. The Bees are the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Angels. The team held a moment of silence for Skaggs days after his death, while a No. 45 Skaggs Bees jersey was left in the team's dugout every game for the rest of the 2019 season.
"He was obviously a great teammate, but you always had a friend in Skaggs. It's just terrible — it's super sad for all of us," said Michael Hermosillo, then a member of the Bees, at the time.
Kay was charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl on July 30, 2020 — over a year after Skaggs' death. Prosecutors asserted at the time that Skaggs would not have died had he not obtained fentanyl. They added at the time that blue pills resembling oxycodone found in Skaggs' hotel room were later found to have been laced with the synthetic opiate.
The federal charges also stated that phone records indicated that Skaggs asked Kay to stop by his hotel room with pills on the night before he was found dead. The trial has centered around who supplied Skaggs with fentanyl before his death.
In a series of tweets, Castillo reported that Bedrosian, Cron and Morin all testified that they had only received opioids from Kay — many testifying of blue pills. Quinn reported that Harvey told the court he had also received pills from an unnamed hockey player which he had shared with Skaggs at times when they were teammates in 2019, while Bedrosian said it would be easy for a player to receive drugs from a family member or friend, too.
A Dallas toxicologist also testified that the autopsy results indicated Skaggs died as a result of fentanyl with the other drugs in his system possibly contributing, according to Quinn.
Various Angels employees are also on the list along with several technical experts. The Associated Press reported that one of Kay's former colleagues in the Angels' front office told the court on Monday that Kay told him he had been in Skaggs' room prior to the pitcher's death and watch him snort three lines of drugs.
Kay's defense team is scheduled to begin its argument Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
