The Los Angeles Dodgers have another headache to worry about with reliever Edwin Diaz.
The three-time MLB All-Star pitcher Diaz has been linked to illegal cockfighting events in his native Puerto Rico, Josh Peter of USA Today reported on Thursday. Photos on social media obtained by USA Today reportedly reveal that Diaz was pictured in a Dodgers uniform advertising cockfighting tournaments in two separate Facebook posts back in February.
Peter adds that El Nueva Dia, a leading newspaper in Puerto Rico, published a separate story on March 10 with a photo showing Diaz standing in the pit of a cockfighting arena. The story also allegedly quoted Diaz as 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” (per a rough translation into English).
Cockfighting is not actually legal in Puerto Rico as a federal ban on cockfighting went into effect in all 50 U.S. states and U.S. territories back in 2019. Additionally, the maximum penalty for participating in a cockfight is five years in jail and a fine, while the maximum penalty for attending a cockfight as a spectator is one year in jail and a fine.
Peter further notes that Puerto Rican brothers Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr., horse jockeys who are pursuing Triple Crown run this year, have also been tied to social media posts advertising illegal cockfighting.
Diaz, 32, is in his first year with the Dodgers after signing a three-year, $69 million contract with them last winter. But Diaz has had a nightmare debut season in L.A. thus far, posting a 10.50 ERA along with some very concerning signs of slippage before finally going on the injured list last month due to loose bodies in his elbow. Now Diaz is alleged to have been involved in a sport that was a deep-rooted tradition in his native Puerto Rico for several hundred years before finally being officially outlawed in 2019.