Steve Cohen says Mets will 'never' name captain while he owns team, despite sentiment for Francisco Lindor

The New York Mets have not had a team captain since David Wright retired in 2018. And that will continue as long as Steve Cohen owns the franchise, he said.

"As long as I'm owning the team, there will never be a team captain," Cohen told reporters before the Mets' first full-squad workout on Monday. "That was my decision. My view is the locker room is unique. Let the locker room sort it out year in, year out."

Cohen added that he has felt that way ever since buying the Mets in 2020.

Sentiment had been building toward shortstop Francisco Lindor being named captain going into his sixth season with the team. The Mets even appeared to indicate that by including him in a video honoring Wright when his number was retired last season. (The team deleted the video, but it can still be found online.) 

The topic was raised before last season, but Mets players such as outfielder Brandon Nimmo pointed out that several in the clubhouse — including Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Sean Manaea — filled the role as team leader at various times.

Lindor is under contract for another five years after 2026 following the 10-year, $341 million contract extension he signed in 2021.

The Mets have had four official team captains in franchise history. The first was Keith Hernandez, given the honor in 1987 after the team won the World Series. Hernandez shared the designation during the 1988 and '89 seasons with Gary Carter. The team then went without a captain for 11 seasons until John Franco received the title. 

After Franco left New York as a free agent, the Mets again went without a captain for eight years until David Wright was named by the organization during the spring of 2013. No one in team history might embody a team captain more than Wright. He was given the nickname "Captain America" during the World Baseball Classic that year.

At the time, only two other MLB teams had designated captains: Paul Konerko with the Chicago White Sox and Derek Jeter with the New York Yankees. 

Last season, three teams had captains: Salvador Perez with the Kansas City Royals, Marcus Semien with the Texas Rangers and Aaron Judge with the New York Yankees. Semien is now Lindor's middle infield partner at second base after being acquired in exchange for Nimmo in November. 

“My view is every year, the team’s different, and let the team kind of figure it out in the locker room rather than having a designation," Cohen added, via MLB.com. "Having a captain in baseball doesn’t happen often. It’s actually unusual. Whatever previous ownership did, that was their way of doing things. I look at things differently.”

The importance of the team captain role for the Yankees is likely a reason Mets fans give the title some value. It could also be viewed as a reward for a longtime star, like Lindor has been for the Mets. 

During his five seasons in Queens, he has batted .261/.338/.462 with 148 doubles, 141 home runs, 445 RBI and 117 stolen bases. This year, he'll tie the number of seasons he played with the Cleveland Guardians before being traded to the Mets before the 2021 campaign.