No Team Captain

[metirish]

Steve Cohen says the Mets will never have a team captain as long as he owns the team.

Cohen on the decision: "Having a captain in baseball doesn’t happen often – it’s actually unusual. Whataver previous ownership did, that was their way of doing things. I look at things differently.”

Mike Puma

Good, way too much is made of this

[Edgy MD]

"Never"?

That is kind of odd. And I also see tying yourself into not doing what the previous ownership did as just as much of a trap into tying yourself into continuing to do what they did.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think it would be a nice way to honor Lindor (or some other future Met) but it really is a lot like a FIFA Peace Prize when you think about it. And if the policy is "no captains" then nobody can feel disrespected for not being named captain.

[metirish]

Steve Cohen said the #Mets will never have a captain during his tenure as owner.

"Just my own views on how I want a locker room to be," Cohen said. "Every year the team's different, and let the team kind of figure it out in the locker room rather than have a designation."

David Lennon

[Gwreck]

"Never"?

That is kind of odd.

 

I actually think it’s very smart.

Permanently shuts down something as a distracting topic that gets way too much attention in the media/from the fanbase.

And if he ever wants to change his mind, he can — while never having to deal with questions like “why not do it this year” or “hasn’t Lindor been here long enough?”

[The Hot Corner]

Not an unusual position in baseball. There are currently only 2 teams with captains, Aaron Judge for the Yankees and Salvador Perez for the Royals.

The only thing that is may be unusual is stating that there will never be a team captain.

[Edgy MD]

I would never want to permanently shut down anything. It's not a moral issue, it's a strategic one.

There will never be a catcher batting leadoff as long as I'm owner. Um, OK.

[Centerfield]

"Never"?

That is kind of odd.

 

I actually think it’s very smart.

Permanently shuts down something as a distracting topic that gets way too much attention in the media/from the fanbase.

And if he ever wants to change his mind, he can — while never having to deal with questions like “why not do it this year” or “hasn’t Lindor been here long enough?”

 

I agree with this.

[Frayed Knot]

Don't care about baseball team captains, never did.

Next topic.

[Fman99]

I would have gone with "No Captain, My Captain" as the thread title here, but that's just me

[Lefty Specialist]

Baseball captains are kinda dumb. So I have no problem with this.

[metsmarathon]

No no. I’d much rather freak out about this. It’s important.

[Edgy MD]

Word.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It’s worth remembering that the captaincy question became a public topic last season, especially around Francisco Lindor, to the point where it may have caused friction in the clubhouse, as Brandon Nimmo thought he was at least as worthy, according to comments from ex-Met Adam Ottavino in the offseason.

 

https://sny.tv/articles/mets-steve-cohen-no-nonsense-approach-2026-season

[MFS62]

First, tell me what a captain does on a major league baseball team.

Then, I'll tell you if I think this is a big deal.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Thinking you are worthy of the title CAPTAIN makes you unworthy of the title of CAPTAIN, Nimmo. Everybody knows that.

What a captain does is lead, of course.

[whippoorwill]

I think a captain would be someone that you could confide in, especially off the field issues

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think it's someone who knows where the crunch berries are.

[Edgy MD]

I place this decision alongside the commitment to retiring numbers, deciding to do it based largely on contrasting with what the prior ownership, rather than based on the situation at hand, leaving them performing a pantomime, committed to a path that may force them to disregard inconvenient facts.

[kcmets]

I was not aware that only 2 baseball teams currently have captains

so I guess the Mets not having one can't be a littler deal to me.

[metsmarathon]

It’s kind of a silly thing to make a point of - but since it seems to be a thing that needs a point made about it, I like the point that was made.

As much as we appreciate David wright as captain, and feel that it can be quite meaningful, I think pointedly NOT having a captain is perhaps more meaningful. Basically cohen is saying that he doesn’t want the role of leadership to fall only upon the one designated guy. But rather that each player can be, and is, a leader in their own way and in their own time. That a successful team shouldn’t me looking to that ONE GUY to carry them through the dark times but that they should all look inward to ask what they can do as leaders among men to take on and share the burden.

And since it appears - reportedly and rumouredly - that the potential captainship was a point of fission in the clubhouse last year, then doing away with it pointedly is the right thing to do.

Enough of that ********. Etc.

[metirish]

Francisco Lindor spoke with @AnthonyDiComo about Steve Cohen's decision to never have a team captain with the Mets:

"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.

It’s not where they want to go. I respect it, I understand it and I’m on board.

It’s just one of those where it’s like, I’m going to focus on baseball. 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."

This should be the last word on this nonsense

[Frayed Knot]

Back when Keith was name captain he scarcely knew how to respond as he didn't really know what a captain did or why he was being named one. 'Ummm, it's an honor ... I guess'

But NYM mgmt quickly decided that by bestowing the honor on Keith they had essentially dissed Gary Carter so they quickly named Carter co-captain which effectively meant that now neither was really a captain.

They should have learned from that debacle and quit while they were ahead.