Mets’ Francisco Lindor responds to Steve Cohen ‘never’ having a team captain

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen left a group of fans upset and/or scratching their heads when he said the Mets will “never” name an official team captain under his watch.

For years, star shortstop Francisco Lindor was viewed by Mets fans and other outsiders as the club’s unofficial captain and as the club’s captain. On Thursday morning, Lindor was asked about hearing that he will seemingly never rock a figurative or literal “C” while playing for the Amazins.

Francisco Lindor is ready to stop talking about captaincy after Steve Cohen’s comments

“I respect it,” Lindor said of Cohen’s statement, per Anthony DiComo from the MLB website. “This is definitely a Steve front office type decision. I respect it. At the end of the day, whether I’m captain or not, I’m still going to do the same thing. This isn’t something that’s going to make me someone else. So I respect it. I’m glad he put everything to bed so we can stop talking about this. And move on.”

Last summer A since removed MLB.com video teased that Lindor would soon be named captain of the Mets’ first team since David Wright retired after the 2018 season. It now appears that such a development was never in the works.

Currently New York Yankees star Aaron Judge and Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals are the only official and recognized team captains in the competition this winter. During his comments on Monday, Cohen pointed out that “having a captain in baseball doesn’t happen very often.”

Did Francisco Lindor talk to Steve Cohen about not naming captain?

On Thursday, Lindor revealed that he has not spoken to Cohen about the owner’s comments about the Mets not having a licensed captain.

“It’s not where they want to go,” Lindor explained. “I respect it, I understand it, and I’m in. It’s just one of those situations where I feel like I’m going to focus on baseball. I feel like we have leaders.” [without] Captains and all that stuff. The clubhouse is the clubhouse. Let’s just play baseball and focus on winning.”

Last offseason, former Mets captain and longtime closer John Franco publicly campaigned for Lindor to follow in his and Wright’s footsteps. Speculation about why Lindor won’t get that honor could hang over the Mets all summer, despite his desire to “put it all to bed.”