USA Today recently released an all-encompassing report that details an alleged link between Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Edwin Diaz and an illegal cockfighting ring in Puerto Rico.
Josh Peter wrote that USA Today found two facebook posts made by a cockfighting group in Puerto Rico that has an image Diaz in a Dodgers uniform on the front while referring to him as “the Puerto Rican Star and Cockfighter Edwin ‘Sugar’ Díaz.”
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Back in March, a major newspaper in Puerto Rico published a story with an image showing Diaz standing in a cockfighting pit. The story also quoted Diaz saying, “It’s a pastime I’ve followed since I was a child. It’s legal in Puerto Rico, thank God. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
While it was legal in Puerto Rico for a time, a federal ban on cockfighting took effect in all 50 U.S. states and territories, Puerto Rico included.
The article claimed that Diaz was attending a tournament and entering four roosters into the fights. During one of those fights, one of Diaz’s roosters went down with a “knife wound” before coming back and winning the fight. Diaz reportedly compared this to his performance on the baseball field.
“My rooster went down dead and got up to fight, doing what my roosters know how to do: finish fights. He did what I do when I come in to pitch in the ninth: to close out the game.”
Cockfighting is a 400-year tradition in Puerto Rico and it continues to this day, although the maximum penalty for participants is five years in prison and a fine.
Spectators who attend such an event face a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine.
There isn’t much of a precedent in terms of a punishment from the MLB. In 2008, New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez was seen attending a legal cockfight in the Dominican Republic.
Since it was legal in the region, he ultimately faced no punishment from the MLB. That may not be the case with Diaz, if he was indeed a participant in illegal cockfighting events.
Diaz is currently sidelined for an extended period after having surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow, so the Dodgers are already prepared to play games without him.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
