Currently, there are only two captains in MLB – Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals. If Steve Cohen had agreed, Francisco Lindor from the New York Mets could have been the third. But as Steve Cohen has shut down the captain talks, Lindor finally spoke up.

While talking to the reporters during Monday’s Spring Training, the Mets owner assured that under his ownership, the team will never have a captain.

Now, Lindor broke his silence for the first time on Thursday on the captain issue since Cohen negated the idea of appointing one.

“I respect it. This is definitely a Steve, front-office type decision. At the end of the day, being named captain or not, I’m still going to act the same. This isn’t something that will make me different. I’m glad he put everything to bed, so that way, we can stop talking about this. And move on,” reacted Lindor reportedly to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

Cohen has explained why he would never want any official designation in his team.

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“Just my own views on how I want a locker room to be. My view is that every year the team’s different, and let the team kind of figure it out in the locker room rather than having a designation. Having a captain in baseball doesn’t happen often. It’s actually unusual.”

And it’s especially rare to be named one in the Mets clubhouse. That’s what makes the title even more coveted.

Since their foundation in 1962, the Mets have had only four captains.

Keith Hernandez was the first (1987–1989), followed by Gary Carter (1988–1989), John Franco (2001–2004), and the most recent one being David Wright (2013-2018). But there had been a lot of discussions about the Mets naming Lindor as their fifth captain in 2025.

On an episode of ‘The Show: A NY Post baseball podcast with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman,’ Lindor even addressed the captain chatter.

He had assured that receiving the title would be an honor that he “wouldn’t take for granted.”

But Cohen did not make any moves last season when they had multiple veterans like Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo, who could also have been contenders for the coveted ‘C’.

However, this season Alonso went to the Baltimore Orioles and Nimmo to the Texas Rangers. This left only Lindor as the ideal veteran position player who can become a captain. But per the recent updates, it’s highly unlikely that Lindor will ever become one as his contract with the Mets runs through 2031.

“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,” added Francisco Lindor.

Lindor hopeful about Opening Day

Francisco Lindor recently went through hamate bone surgery that threw him out for six weeks. He would likely be missing the entire Spring Training. The shortstop, however, is optimistic about playing on the Opening Day, reported Will Sammons of The Athletic.

Lindor had an All-Star campaign in 2025 for the Mets.

He hit 31 home runs, 86 RBIs, with an average of .267. The Mets will be looking forward to his return for making key contributions in strengthening their offense.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com posted pictures on X showing how, despite the injury, Lindor showed up to accompany his teammates on Tuesday.

When Lindor ultimately returns, he will be joining a rebuilt infield composed of new Mets. He will be accompanied by Jorge Polanco as the first baseman, Marcus Semien at second, and Bo Bichette at third.