Angels employee convicted of Tyler Skaggs fatal overdose struggled with mental health, ex-team official says

A former Los Angeles Angels official testified Wednesday that a team employee convicted of providing drugs that led to the death of one of the team’s star pitchers was good at his job but had some behavioral issues and had been taking prescription medication to deal with depression and bipolar disorder.Tim Mead was the first witness to testify in the long-awaited civil trial in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of the late pitcher Tyler Skaggs.Mead left the Angels, where he oversaw the team’s communications, a few weeks before the 2019 overdose death to become president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.The family contends the team should be held responsible for Skaggs’ death after its communication director, Eric Kay, was convicted of providing the fentanyl-tainted pill that led to Skaggs’ fatal overdose on a team trip to Texas in 2019.Mead, who was Kay’s boss, told the court in Santa Ana on Thursday that he knew Kay took medication and sometimes had off days because of his mental health issues.

Mead said Kay was a good employee 95% of the time but occasionally engaged in questionable conduct such as yelling at an intern, having an affair with another and taking money from players for stunts like getting hit by a fast-moving pitch.“He was a good worker, he was a good performer.I saw the bounce back if there was to be what I would call an off day,” said Mead, who now works as an adjunct professor.

“I took him at his word for knowing his condition and what he was managing.”Mead said he believed Kay was mismanaging his medication, and said Kay told him sometimes he didn’t take it, and never heard anything about him taking illegal drugs.When a lawyer for the plaintiff’s family asked why Mead didn’t report Kay’s issues to the team, Mead said Kay was participating in an employee assistance program that he considered “part of the organization.”In April 2019, Mead said concerns about Kay rose to a new level when he was behavi...