00:00The Los Angeles Dodgers, oh, did they sign somebody new?
00:02Did they make a huge trade?
00:03No, it's Edwin Diaz, and I'll start here, Craig.
00:07Being linked to illegal cockfights here.
00:10That's not a headline I thought we'd be talking about on Sunday morning,
00:13pro baseball today.
00:15Yeah, I didn't either, but, you know, that's why we have Sam here
00:18to go over the hot topics in baseball.
00:20It's, you know, one minute and eight seconds into the show,
00:23not Schwarber, but cockfighting, yeah, to begin the show today.
00:27You can't make it up.
00:27But, look, I mean, obviously it's a little bit just of a distraction,
00:31I think, when Diaz comes back.
00:33It's something that he'll have now on his resume.
00:35It won't show up on the back of the baseball card.
00:38You know, but naturally, Donnie, I do think that in the end,
00:42not much will happen with this.
00:44It's a funny story.
00:45It's obviously not good because it is banned virtually everywhere,
00:49except for, I guess, the one place where he's doing it.
00:52But, you know, I personally think that this is something that it feels like to me.
00:57Somebody's got a vendetta, you know?
00:59Like, Donnie, there must have been a cockfight where Edwin Diaz's animals were doing too well,
01:04and somebody wanted to put this out there.
01:06I can't think of any other reason why.
01:09And the odd part about it is, like, most organizations, and particularly the Dodgers,
01:14like, you have great PR personnel here that can get out in front of this story,
01:17and somebody might tip them off.
01:19Here's the interesting part.
01:20If we bring up the talk in baseball tweet, Craig,
01:22it says, Edwin Diaz obviously linked to illegal cockfights per USA Today.
01:26But the quote, it's legal in Puerto Rico, thank God.
01:29Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.
01:31I feel safe here.
01:32The cockfighting arena is like my home.
01:35And then you see the note, but know it.
01:37A federal ban on cockfighting took effect in Puerto Rico in 2019.
01:42Then we go to an underdog tweet, which I actually thought it might have been, like,
01:45underdog onion.
01:46Like, you know, the NBA has NBA Central and Centel, which you laugh at.
01:49Here's another quote.
01:50My rooster went down dead and got up to fighting, doing what my roosters know how to do, finish fights.
01:57He did what I do when I come in to pitch in the ninth, close out the game.
02:01This is incredible because there's a leap that we'll get into with the NFL, which we've seen before with Michael
02:06Vick.
02:06But just the story itself is not a good look as opposed to, you know what?
02:11It was wrong.
02:12I haven't been doing it in, I don't know, months at this point right now.
02:16You know, I want to show my contrition at this point.
02:18He's the opposite right now.
02:19Love it.
02:20It's legal.
02:21Love it.
02:21I come in the game, and just like my, you know, cockfighters are doing right now,
02:25they'll handle their business the way I do.
02:27It's such an odd look right now where the PR staff is probably scratching their head.
02:31Yeah, the other thing, Donnie, is we've had several days since this story has come out,
02:36and I have not seen any issued apology for the statement or anything else.
02:39So I suppose if you're Edwin Diaz and you're making the kind of money that he is,
02:43you figure you could just throw some money at this eventually legally and make it go away.
02:46But, yeah, I mean, it was not on my list of things to talk about this week going in,
02:51but naturally a very bizarre story that I think probably will just go away pretty quickly.
02:57But naturally, when something like this happens, you do get remembered for that.
03:00And Edwin Diaz is now awkwardly remembered for two things.
03:05One, getting hurt celebrating in the World Baseball Classic.
03:07I think a lot of people remember that, missing a full year.
03:09And now this.
03:11I mean, the jokes were rolling along yesterday on Twitter as well,
03:14which you knew they would right away, like, do his roosters come out or whatever
03:17and, you know, have the trumpets playing in the background before they start the fight.
03:20So that's going down the hill.
03:21But let me ask you this question, Craig, because more than a legality here,
03:25professional sports don't like to be embarrassed.
03:27They like to get out in front of these stories.
03:29Now, Michael Vick in the NFL, he was fighting dogs, went to jail for it.
03:33Not saying that Edwin Diaz is going to go to jail for this,
03:35but what happens from Major League Baseball and the Dodgers?
03:38Is there anything, like, you're going to have to pay a fine,
03:41you have to issue an apology, a three-game suspension?
03:44Does anything happen to Edwin Diaz?
03:46Because, again, Major League Baseball and the Dodgers, embarrassed by it here.
03:49You don't have to wait for the legalities.
03:51You can do something about it.
03:52Do we think something might be done here?
03:54No.
03:55Well, he's out, and that's part of it.
03:57So maybe something would come down when he does come back in a couple of months from now.
04:01But my sense is, is that, you know, how much Major League Baseball is going to investigate,
04:06you know, basically going to Puerto Rico and figuring out what is happening and what is not in this.
04:11I don't see much, honestly, Donnie coming out of it.
04:14And, again, you know, Diaz can say that, you know, his words were taken out of context.
04:17He can also double down back on it and say, hey, you know, I did say that I did it,
04:21but I really didn't.
04:22And I personally think that Edwin Diaz will be pitching in the postseason and even in the World Series if
04:28the Dodgers get there.
04:29So I don't think anything crazy comes out of this at all.
04:32Yeah, different cultures.
04:33Sometimes they clash with other cultures here.
04:35We'll see what comes up.
04:35But as Craig pointed out, it was an interesting story that popped up this week that you probably would have
04:39thought tuning in now.
04:40Like, what?
04:41Where did I miss this story?
04:42Yeah, it's actually going down in Major League Baseball.
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