No captain for the Mets: Francisco Lindor respects the decision

Sébastien Berrouard
No captain for the Mets: Francisco Lindor respects the decision
Credit: Orlando Sentinel

Despite the fact that the New York Mets have had yet another tumultuous season both on and off the field, owner Steve Cohen went so far as to say that the Mets will never have a captain as long as he is at the helm of the club.

The Queens representatives have been without a captain since 2018, when David Wright retired after holding the title since 2013. Before him, the Mets had only had three captains: Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, and John Franco. This announcement from Cohen came out of nowhere, and it was unclear how Francisco Lindor, who is now the team's longest-tenured position player, would react to his owner's statement.

And just yesterday (Thursday), the file was sent by the person concerned.

I respect that. It's definitely Steve's decision, from the front office. I respect that. At the end of the day, whether I'm named captain or not, I'm still going to act the same way. It's not something that's going to make me a different person. So, I respect that.

The player, who is in St. Lucie despite undergoing surgery to repair a broken hamate bone, also expressed some relief that Cohen's statement will put an end to the distractions caused by the debate over the Mets' captaincy.

I'm glad he settled everything, so we can stop talking about it and move on. It's just one of those things where I'm going to focus on baseball. I feel like we have leaders without them being captains. Let's just play baseball and focus on winning.”

In a way, this decision will take some of the pressure off Lindor and the locker room in general. Because captain or not, the Mets will have to find a way to avoid controversy and focus on baseball, something they haven't done in a long time, despite their successful 2024 campaign.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.

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