Because the trial about whether or not the Angels needs to be held a minimum of partially accountable for the loss of life of Tyler Skaggs enters its third week, main league officers are intently monitoring the proceedings.
The trial is scheduled to final a number of extra weeks, and it could be untimely for the league to find out what motion it would take in opposition to the Angels — if any — till all proof is revealed in courtroom and a verdict or a settlement is reached.
Nonetheless, it’s thought-about extremely unlikely that the league would compel Angels proprietor Arte Moreno to promote the group.
Consideration of any motion in all probability could be deferred till the league might conduct its personal investigation and till a jury verdict, if there may be one, is totally reviewed by an appeals courtroom.
The Skaggs household is looking for $785 million in damages, as first reported by the Athletic, primarily based on the allegation the Angels knew or ought to have identified that former staffer Eric Kay was utilizing unlawful medicine, together with the drugs he offered to Skaggs on the night time the pitcher died in 2019. The Angels deny the allegations.
The jury wouldn’t need to resolve whether or not to award all of that cash or none of it. The jury first must decide who was liable: the Angels, Kay, Skaggs and another events. Then the jury would resolve what proportion of legal responsibility every of these events ought to assume and what the monetary compensation needs to be.
For example, a jury might resolve the damages needs to be $210 million — the quantity the household listed at least in a courtroom submitting — and the Angels needs to be held one-third accountable. Beneath that instance, they’d be assessed $70 million.
In 1943, Philadelphia Phillies proprietor William Cox was banned for all times for betting on baseball.
If historical past is any indication, if the league believes an proprietor deserves self-discipline, an proprietor could be extra prone to be suspended than banned. In 1993, Cincinnati Reds proprietor Marge Schott was suspended one yr for racist and insensitive feedback.
New York Yankees proprietor George Steinbrenner was suspended 3 times: two years for unlawful contributions to President Nixon’s 1972 marketing campaign; one week after publicly criticizing umpires; and two years and 5 months for paying a gambler to dig up disparaging info on All-Star outfielder Dave Winfield. That final suspension initially was introduced as a lifetime ban; Steinbrenner was later reinstated.
Kay, who offered Skaggs with counterfeit oxycodone drugs that have been laced with fentanyl, is serving a 22-year sentence in federal jail. Skaggs died in his resort room in Texas of asphyxiation, in keeping with an post-mortem, choking on his personal vomit whereas underneath the affect of oxycodone, fentanyl and alcohol.
