That is one of the worst-written stories I've read in some time. It took me quite a while to figure out what the hell was going on, but I'm glad I stuck with it because this whole thing is insane. And It definitely looks suspicious that Richards was sending this guy money.
"The government also established numerous Venmo payments from Skaggs and pitcher Garrett Richards to Kay. Richards is expected to testify this week."
I didn’t see whether Richards was called by the prosecution or the defense, but I wouldn’t expect either side to call him unless the transfers of funds somehow relate to the charges against Kay.
Considering other players over the years that have gotten second and third and fourth chances after drug issues directly derailed their careers, I'm not sure this should play much into Richards or Harvey's future prospects. Like you said, their age and recent performance are going to be bigger factors.
The optics on this suck for Harvey though. Sounds like he admitted to popping pills in the dugout. It's one thing to do this behind closed doors, but in uniform and in plain sight... not a good look.
Did you get that from the ESPN link or somewhere else? Just asking because I didn't get that from the linked article, but I may have missed it.
I got it from Yahoo!:
View: https://twitter.com/TJQuinnESPN/status/1493621301675708419?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1493621301675708419%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Fsports%2Fmatt-harvey-admits-to-using-percocet-in-clubhouse-and-dugout-during-tyler-skaggs-trial-175735206.html
You may well be proved correct and there may be reporting out there that indicates that Harvey and Richards are, in fact, testifying without any kind of deal, but the ESPN article indicates that at least one government witness has already been given immunity in exchange for his testimony. It doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility that the players have gotten deals of their own and are cooperating for that reason. In any case, this exchange started because I said the Richards Venmo payments to Kay seem suspicious. Nothing that has been discussed since then has made me think I should reconsider that opinion.
Using in the clubhouse/dugout is a bad look, for sure. Acting as a drug supplier to a teammate who later OD’d (even if the OD wasn’t connected to you) is disqualifying.
Not entirely going out on a limb.
Likely this means Richards was a potential witness on one specific point that one side thought the other would bring in. When that point doesn't get brought in, no reason to call the witness, but, he's still on the list. Implies that whatever his role was in the saga, it was fairly minor, but, impossible to know anything for sure. (edit: it does likely mean he was a prosecution witness though, as only the defense can really 'surprise' in criminal trials)
Perhaps being kept in reserve in case some part of the defense case involved "nobody ever sent him money" that had to be rebutted.
