Report: DEA Interviews Matt Harvey, Current Angels Players in Tyler Skaggs Investigation

© Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has interviewed several former and current Los Angeles Angels players while investigating the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

According to DiGiovanna, current pitchers Andrew Heaney, Noe Ramirez and Trevor Cahill, as well as former Angels pitcher Matt Harvey, were among at least six players who were question by federal agents. The DEA hoped the players would shed light on whether the use of opiates was prevalent in the clubhouse. Agents also asked players if they ever saw others using illegal narcotics on team flights and if they knew how Skaggs got ahold of the drugs.

Two other players were interviewed, but their names are not yet known.

"Trevor was friends with Tyler," agent John Boggs said, referring to Cahill, "but all this other craziness that happened over weekend was news to everybody."

Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his hotel room on July 1, just hours before the Angels were set to face the Rangers. The Southlake Police Department said officers responded to a call of an unconscious man in a hotel room at 2:18 p.m. Skaggs was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at the scene. No foul play was initially suspected.

A toxicology report revealed that Skaggs had Fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system when he was found dead in July. While under the influence of the three substances, Skaggs choked on his vomit and died. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office listed his cause of death as a mixture of “alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with terminal aspiration of gastric contents."

On Sunday, ESPN's T.J. Quinn reported that Angels director of communications, Eric Kay, told federal agents that he provided opioids to Skaggs and that he abused drugs with the pitcher for several years. Kay also told agents he saw Skaggs ingest crushed up oxycodone pills and another substance he was not familiar with in his Texas hotel room.

According to DiGiovanna, the players interviewed were not targeted for any specific reason or suspected of using opiates or implicated in any potential crime.