Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham had another excuse for slapping Joc Pederson — he blamed Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout.
Pham slapped Pederson across the face for a fantasy football dispute over the weekend, which led to a benches-clearing pregame incident. Pederson reportedly left a player on injured reserve, creating an extra roster spot.
After receiving a three-game suspension, Pham had some time to reflect. He no longer solely blames Joc, though he still claims Pederson only told half of the story. Pham now thinks Mike Trout is at fault, as he was the commissioner of said league.
“Trout did a terrible job, man,” Pham said, via The Athletic. “Trout’s the worst commissioner in fantasy sports. Because he allowed a lot of s*** to go on and he could’ve solved it all.”
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Pham thinks Trout should’ve stepped in, as the commissioner of said league, and put an end to Pederson’s antics. This included the anti-Padres gif which apparently set Pham off, leading to their altercation in the outfield.
“Nobody wanted to be commissioner, I didn’t want to be the f****** commissioner. I’ve got other shit to do. He didn’t want to do it; we put it on him. It was kind of our fault too, because we made him commissioner,” Pham said.
While Trout refused comment, Pham went on to say that Pederson sent several jokes aimed at him and the Padres, and they weren’t as innocent as the gif seemed.
“A few. There was more than one, and I got screenshots to prove it. He sent more than a few texts or jokes aimed at me or the Padres. That was only one. There were four or five.” Pham continued.
As silly as this whole matter sounds, Pederson did apologize for his actions, stating he didn’t mean to offend Pham. While both players have said they want to put this matter behind them, it’s safe to think this fantasy league is toast.
There’s no coming back from such a public altercation.