Dodgers Star Closer Edwin Diaz Has Been Implicated In Illegal Cockfighting Activity Back In His Native Puerto Rico

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By all accounts the 2026 New York Mets season has been an unmitigated disaster. So far it's gone just about as poorly as you could imagine. Well, I've got some good news Mets fans, it could be worse! Imagine if your franchise extended Edwin Diaz and paid him a record breaking amount of money to be their closer. 

Why would that be a bad thing? Well, for starters Diaz has been sidelined for a bit now and will remain that way as he misses extensive time recovering from surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow. Not ideal. What's made the situation worse? How about getting potentially implicated in a cockfighting ring down in his native Puerto Rico? 

(USA Today) Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr., among the top jockeys in horse racing and brothers from Puerto Rico, dueled in a thrilling finish at the Kentucky Derby almost two weeks ago. Their Triple Crown run continues this weekend with potential scrutiny.

Edwin Diaz, a three-time All-Star pitcher now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is linked to cockfighting events in Puerto Rico based on photos found by USA TODAY Sports on social media. Diaz is pictured in a Dodgers uniform in a Facebook post dated Feb. 2 and a Facebook post dated Feb. 4 advertising cockfighting tournaments.

Text in one of the ads, translated into English, 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."

There are some quotes and details from this story that seem made up. One example of that being that he thanks god that cockfighting is legal in Puerto Rico, and it's something he's followed and loved since he was a child. I get that it's part of the culture over there, but maybe hold off on waxing poetic about chickens battling to the death for sport and money. 

El Nuevo Día, the largest circulating newspaper in Puerto Rico, published a story March 10 with a photo showing Diaz standing in the pit of a cockfighting arena. Translated into English, the article quotes 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."

Fun fact about cockfighting in Puerto Rico? It's certainly not legal like Diaz says, and hasn't been since 2019. Now as I read more and more about this, it does seem cockfighting falls into more of a grey area in terms of legality. It's technically against the law, but not something that's too often enforced. 

Now this next part I thought was 100% fake and from a parody account. One of his roosters was down and out, only to come back and win, finishing the job. Diaz compared it to when he comes in the 9th inning and nails down a save. 

This guy apparently loves cockfighting so much I'm almost expecting one of those quotes like the Tiger apologists gave to defend his love for driving where they suggested he feels in control and at home behind the wheel. Imagine Diaz said something like that about a cockfighting arena. Oh wait…

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I wonder if Diaz faces any legit punishment for this when it comes to MLB. The animal cruelty stuff never sits easy with me, but can they come down on him here? Will he just blame all of the quotes on his translator and have that person take the blame? Seems to be the Dodgers strategy for legal issues these days. 

For any other team, your prized closer going down and dealing with these off the field issues would be a back breaker and a true setback for the season, but for the Dodgers it's just a small bump in the road that they'll overcome with ease. If they need more pitching at the deadline I'm certain they'll be aggressive in fortifying that area of the team. As long as they have Ohtani the rest will figure itself out. They're inevitable. 

P.S. Jose and Irad Ortiz Jr. are both jockeys in tomorrow's Preakness Stakes. This race should be an interesting wrinkle in that race considering it directly involves animals.