Key Takeaways
- • Steve Cohen declared during spring training that the Mets will never have a team captain during his tenure as owner, a policy he has held "all along" and formalized as an ownership decision.
- • The Mets have been without a captain since David Wright's retirement following the 2018 season; Cohen explicitly rejected the notion of naming Francisco Lindor or any other player to the role despite Lindor's qualifications as a star with long-term guaranteed contract and leadership qualities.
- • Cohen's management philosophy prioritizes allowing the locker room to self-organize leadership year-to-year rather than impose formal designations, citing his view that team composition changes annually and captaincies are atypical in baseball compared to other major team sports.
- • Only two of MLB's 30 franchises currently employ captains—the Yankees (Aaron Judge) and Royals (Salvador Perez)—underscoring Cohen's position that named captaincies are "unusual" in professional baseball.
- • The Mets' historical captaincy lineage includes David Wright (2013–2018), Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, and John Franco; Cohen's policy breaks with previous ownership approaches and reflects his distinct vision for organizational culture.
Summary
Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, formally declared during the team's spring training news conference on February 16, 2026, that the franchise will not appoint a team captain while he retains ownership. "As long as I'm owning the team, there will never be a team captain," Cohen stated before the Mets' first full-squad workout at their Port St. Lucie facility. "That was my decision."
Cohen's rationale centers on his management philosophy regarding locker room dynamics. He emphasized that his position on captaincies predates the spring training announcement: "I've felt that way all along. It's just my own views on how I want a locker room to be." Rather than designate formal leadership roles, Cohen believes the roster should organically determine its own leadership structure annually. "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," he explained. Cohen further contextualized his stance within baseball's broader organizational norms, noting that captaincies are exceptionally rare in the sport: "Having a captain in baseball doesn't happen often. It's actually unusual."
The Mets have operated without a captain since shortstop David Wright, the franchise's longest-tenured captain (2013–2018), retired following the 2018 season. Throughout recent seasons, speculation centered on whether Francisco Lindor—the team's star player with long-term guaranteed contract security and demonstrated leadership qualities—would receive the designation. Cohen's statement definitively closes that discussion. His approach contrasts markedly with previous Mets ownership and stands in sharp contrast to other major professional sports; only two of MLB's 30 teams currently employ captains: the New York Yankees (Aaron Judge) and Kansas City Royals (Salvador Perez).
The Mets' historical captaincy record includes four named captains: Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, John Franco, and Wright. Cohen's policy marks a structural shift in organizational culture, reflecting his conviction that imposed leadership hierarchies conflict with his vision for how a professional baseball locker room should function.
Cohen's rationale centers on his management philosophy regarding locker room dynamics. He emphasized that his position on captaincies predates the spring training announcement: "I've felt that way all along. It's just my own views on how I want a locker room to be." Rather than designate formal leadership roles, Cohen believes the roster should organically determine its own leadership structure annually. "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," he explained. Cohen further contextualized his stance within baseball's broader organizational norms, noting that captaincies are exceptionally rare in the sport: "Having a captain in baseball doesn't happen often. It's actually unusual."
The Mets have operated without a captain since shortstop David Wright, the franchise's longest-tenured captain (2013–2018), retired following the 2018 season. Throughout recent seasons, speculation centered on whether Francisco Lindor—the team's star player with long-term guaranteed contract security and demonstrated leadership qualities—would receive the designation. Cohen's statement definitively closes that discussion. His approach contrasts markedly with previous Mets ownership and stands in sharp contrast to other major professional sports; only two of MLB's 30 teams currently employ captains: the New York Yankees (Aaron Judge) and Kansas City Royals (Salvador Perez).
The Mets' historical captaincy record includes four named captains: Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, John Franco, and Wright. Cohen's policy marks a structural shift in organizational culture, reflecting his conviction that imposed leadership hierarchies conflict with his vision for how a professional baseball locker room should function.
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