A lawyer for the family of late MLB player Tyler Skaggs alleged during opening statements of his wrongful death trial that the pitcher’s team, the Los Angeles Angels, put him “directly in harm’s way.”

They did so, attorney Shawn Holley argued, by continuing to employ former director of communications Eric Kay. Kay is serving 22 years in prison after he was convicted in 2022 for providing Skaggs with the fentanyl-laced oxycodone pill that led to his fatal overdose at age 27.

Skaggs was found unresponsive in his Southlake, Texas, hotel room on July 1, 2019, while the Angels were in town to face the Texas Rangers. He had texted Kay, now 50, asking for painkillers the night before. Police found oxycodone pills as well as anti-inflammatories and a white powder in his room.

The medical examin

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