A USA Today investigation published Wednesday by reporter Josh Peter has linked Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz to illegal cockfighting events in Puerto Rico. Two Facebook posts — dated February 2 and February 4 — show Díaz in a Dodgers uniform in promotional advertisements for cockfighting tournaments. The Club Gallistico, the cockfighting ring behind the ads, identifies the pitcher as a gallero — a cockfighting enthusiast — in the promotional copy. One translated caption 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.' As of Thursday, those ads remained live on Facebook.
Beyond the social media promotions, Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día published a separate story on March 10 with a photograph showing Díaz standing inside the pit of a cockfighting arena. The USA Today report found that Díaz's family entered four roosters in a March event, and that an earlier 2018 report showed Díaz himself had entered five. His brother Alexis Díaz, who pitches for the Cincinnati Reds, has also remained connected to the sport alongside Edwin, according to the investigation. Three Puerto Rican athletes in total were named in the report — the Díaz brothers and jockey brothers Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr., who are both heading into the Preakness Stakes this weekend.
A Federal Ban, Unevenly Enforced
The central tension of the USA Today report is not only what Díaz may have done, but how openly it was conducted. Congress extended its federal animal fighting ban to U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, in 2018. The Supreme Court declined to hear a constitutional challenge to that extension in 2021, leaving the ban firmly in place. Under federal law, participating in cockfighting carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine; spectating carries up to one year. Puerto Rico's own statutes set fines between $500 and $5,000, with a maximum of six years in prison — but enforcement has historically been sporadic at best.
A 2019 economic study estimated that cockfighting supports roughly 27,000 jobs in Puerto Rico and that the ban's full enforcement would cost the island's economy over $407 million. Former governor Pedro Pierluisi said in 2021 that he was 'committed to supporting an industry that generates jobs and income for our economy, that represents our culture and our history,' adding that he would 'continue to fight for them.' That political resistance has shaped a climate in which, as Sports Illustrated noted, the promoters behind the February ads appeared entirely unconcerned about federal or local legal exposure.
Díaz on the Injured List, MLB Stays Quiet
Díaz signed a three-year, $69 million contract with the Dodgers last December, his most lucrative deal to date after being a three-time All-Star for the New York Mets. He has appeared in only seven games this season before being placed on the 60-day injured list following right elbow surgery to remove loose bodies from the joint. He has not pitched since April 19, and neither the Dodgers nor his representatives have given a firm timetable for his return, though second-half projections have been cited. USA Today said its attempts to reach Díaz's representatives went unanswered; the Dodgers offered no statement. MLB declined to comment on the record.
The silence has fed a growing backlash on social media, where fans accused MLB of treating the Dodgers differently than other franchises under scrutiny. The precedent most frequently cited is former Dodgers pitcher Pedro Martínez, who drew significant controversy in 2008 after video surfaced of him attending a cockfight in the Dominican Republic. In that instance, too, no formal penalties followed. Legally, no criminal accusations against Díaz have been filed as of publication, and the reporting draws a distinction between documented promotional appearances and arena attendance on one hand, and provable illegal participation on the other — a line that may ultimately determine how far any investigation proceeds.
