Mets ‘will never’ name a team captain under owner Steve Cohen

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The makeover to the New York Mets’ clubhouse won’t feature naming anyone the team captain. Not now. And under owner Steve Cohen, not ever.

“As long as I’m owning the team, there will never be a team captain,” he said on Monday during his annual spring training news conference. “That was my decision. My view is the locker room is unique, and let the locker room sort it out year in, year out.”

While Cohen, who bought the team in 2020, added that he “felt that way all along,” the issue of whether the Mets would make someone a team captain was a major storyline during their disappointing 2025 season. New York was a major disappointment last year, failing to make the playoffs after signing Juan Soto to the sport’s richest contract. The Mets’ clubhouse culture reportedly had camaraderie issues. According to club sources, multiple players held interest last year in the role of captain.

Though he always stopped short of publicly saying he wanted the title, from an outside view, star shortstop Francisco Lindor was a logical candidate for the captain job. He is still here, though other potential fits for the role, speculatively speaking, are not: Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso. The Mets traded Nimmo, formerly their longest-tenured player, to the Texas Rangers, and they let Alonso leave for the Baltimore Orioles via free agency.

The Mets’ last captain was David Wright, who served in the role from 2013 to 2018.

This story will be updated.