Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Move over Shohei Ohtani, there’s a new Los Angeles Dodgers star who finds himself at the center of an ugly scandal that could well land him in hot water with Major League Baseball.
Edwin Diaz, who signed a three-year, $69 million deal with Los Angeles in the offseason, was recently implicated in an illegal cockfighting ring in his native Puerto Rico, according to a report by USA Today.
In multiple Facebook posts, Diaz’s image was used to promote the fights.
The one ad reads, “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.”
Edwin Diaz Has Outwardly Stated His Love Of Cockfighting
While cockfighting in Puerto Rico is technically illegal under U.S. federal law, the act has a deep-rooted history in the territory, and local officials often turn a blind eye to the fights.
In March, Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día published a story with a photo showing Diaz standing in the pit of a cockfighting arena. Diaz told the paper that “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.”
In addition to Diaz, brothers Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr, two of the world’s best jockeys who squared off in the recent Kentucky Derby, were also tied to the fighting ring.
A video posted on X appears to show the brothers collecting money on the pit floor from the betting crowd in Club Gallistico de Naguabo, which hosted the fights.
Neither jockey has issued a statement on the accusations, nor have Diaz or the Dodgers. Major League Baseball also declined to comment on the matter.