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On the hook: Angels' Trout still fantasy commish, for now

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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout (27) celebrates in the dugout after scoring off of a single hit by Jared Walsh during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

NEW YORK ā€“ Mike Troutā€™s future, he admits, is very much in doubt.

Not as a baseball great. As the commissioner of a fantasy football league thatā€™s suddenly gotten a lot of attention.

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ā€œAm I going to resign? I havenā€™t made that decision,ā€ the Los Angeles Angels star said Wednesday, laughing.

ā€œBut every commissioner I know always get booed,ā€ he said.

The bizarre saga began last Friday when Cincinnati outfielder Tommy Pham slapped San Francisco outfielder Joc Pederson before a game. Pham later said it was over a fantasy football dispute, and he was suspended three games by Major League Baseball.

This week, Pham added another strange twist when he said Trout ran their football loop.

ā€œTrout did a terrible job, man,ā€ Pham told The Cincinnati Enquirer. ā€œTrout is the worst commissioner in fantasy sports.ā€

Trout, a noted Philadelphia Eagles fan, said heā€™s tried to tamp down the beef.

ā€œI talked to Tommy, I talked to Joc, everybody that was part of it,ā€ Trout said, hours before a night game at Yankee Stadium was rained out. ā€œJust passionate about fantasy football.ā€

Pederson claimed Pham blamed him for cheating by making an illegal move with an injured reserve spot, costing the Reds player significant money.

Trout said he wasnā€™t going to referee that one in public.

ā€œItā€™s in the past,ā€ the three-time AL MVP said, adding, ā€œitā€™s a legendary fantasy football league, for sure.ā€

ā€œItā€™s just one of those things, everybodyā€™s competitive. Everybody loves fantasy football. Who doesnā€™t?ā€ he said.

MLB has strict rules about betting involving baseball games, but no rules against other sports as long as the gambling is legal ā€“ as in, no bookies.

Angels manager Joe Maddon, meanwhile, said Trout shouldn't give up being the commish job.

ā€œListen, guys, love it. I get it. And I did,ā€ he said. ā€œYou get absorbed and during the week you have to make all these transactions, which really gets annoying because all youā€™re doing is youā€™re buried in the newspapers or the ā€” at that time, it was magazines. You had to buy all the magazines. I love fantasy football, but I will not ā€” but Iā€™ll never do it again.ā€

ā€œIt absorbs you way too much. And the bad part about fantasy football is you start rooting for players on teams other than the team that you actually root for, and thatā€™s when you have to stop doing it. When I started rooting against the Cardinals and when the particular player on my teamā€™s playing, thatā€™s when I knew I had to quit," Maddon said. ā€œAnd I did, about 1999, 2000, something like that.ā€

___

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