Francisco Lindor Responds to Steve Cohen Saying Mets Won't Have a Captain During His Ownership

Francisco Lindor has no problem with Steve Cohen saying there will never be a team captain during his time as the owner of the New York Mets.

"I respect it," Lindor said Thursday, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. "This is definitely a Steve, front-office type decision. I respect it. At the end of the day … being named captain or not, I'm still going to act the same. This is not something that's going to make me somebody different. So I respect it. I'm glad he put everything to bed, so that way we can stop talking about this. And move on."

If the Mets were going to name a captain, the shortstop would be an obvious candidate.

After all, the 32-year-old has been with the organization since the 2021 campaign and is a leader on the field and in the locker room. DiComo pointed out that both he and team officials spoke about him possibly becoming the captain last year even though it was never made official.

What's more, exits from other veterans such as Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso left him as the longest-tenured Mets position player.

Still, MLB teams operate in different fashions than those in the NFL and NHL. They rarely name captains with Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) and Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals) as the only two official team captains in the league heading into the 2026 campaign.

Even the Mets have had just four captains in their team history that dates back to 1962 (Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, John Franco and David Wright), so naming Lindor as one would be quite notable.

"It's just one of those where it's like, I'm going to focus on baseball," the shortstop said. "I feel like we've got leaders [without] captains and all that stuff. The clubhouse is the clubhouse. Let's just play baseball, and let's focus on winning."

The Mets are well positioned to do plenty of that winning in 2026 with a lineup that features Lindor, Juan Soto and new addition Bo Bichette. Throw in new ace Freddy Peralta anchoring the pitching rotation, and anything less than a deep playoff run would be a disappointment in New York.

If the Mets live up to expectations and challenge for a deep playoff run, Lindor's leadership will surely have plenty to do with it.

Even if he isn't technically the team captain.