Edwin Díaz, the closer the Los Angeles Dodgers signed to a three-year, $69 million deal this past offseason, has been linked to an illegal cockfighting ring in Puerto Rico – and it’s the kind of story that could attract serious scrutiny from Major League Baseball.
According to a report by USA Today, Díaz’s image appeared in multiple Facebook posts promoting the fights. One ad read directly:
“The Puerto Rico Cockfighting Club invites all enthusiasts to a special match and a grand tribute to one of our island’s greatest sources of pride: A Tribute to the Puerto Rican Star and Cockfighter Edwin ‘Sugar’ Díaz.”
Díaz hasn’t been quiet about his connection to the sport either. Back in March, Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día ran a story alongside a photo showing him standing inside a cockfighting arena’s pit.
“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.”
That last part is where things get complicated.
A Cultural Tradition With a Legal Problem
Cockfighting carries deep cultural roots in Puerto Rico, and local officials have historically looked the other way. But the territory is still subject to U.S. federal law – which banned cockfighting outright in 2019. So while Díaz may see it as a harmless tradition from his childhood, the federal picture is a different story.
He’s not the only prominent athlete tied to the ring. Brothers José Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr. – two of the world’s top thoroughbred jockeys who recently competed against each other in the Kentucky Derby – have also been connected to the same operation. A video circulating on X appears to show both brothers collecting money from bettors on the pit floor at Club Galístico de Naguabo, the venue that hosted the fights.
Neither jockey has responded publicly. Díaz hasn’t commented, and neither have the Dodgers. MLB declined to comment when approached.
Whether this develops into a formal investigation remains to be seen, but with Díaz now a high-profile piece of a Dodgers roster that already has more than its share of headlines, it’s not a story that’s likely to disappear quietly.