PORT ST. LUCIE, FLa. (AP) — Francisco Lindor, the longest-tenured New York Mets player, says he appreciates Steve Cohen's declaration this that there will never be a team captain under his ownership.
“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," Lindor told MLB.com in a story published Thursday. "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.”
The 32-year-old shortstop and five-time All-Star is going into his sixth season with the Mets and is signed through 2031.
New York is entering its third season under manager Carlos Mendoza. The Mets allowed popular slugger Pete Alonso and star closer Edwin Díaz to leave as free agents and traded two homegrown Mets: outfielder Brandon Nimmo and versatile veteran Jeff McNeil.
In his first meeting with reporters at spring training this week, Cohen said not having a captain was his decision. He characterized the clubhouse as being unique, and that he prefers to let it sort itself out each year.
"Just my own views on how I want a locker room to be,” Cohen said. “My view is 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.”
The only captains in Mets history have been Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, John Franco and David Wright, whose playing career ended in 2018.
“It’s not where they want to go,” Lindor told MLB.com. "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.”
Lindor, long considered one of the team leaders, is rehabbing after surgery Feb. 11 to repair a broken hamate bone in his left hand, which could threaten his status for the start of this season. The surgery followed an evaluation by a hand specialist after he experienced soreness in the area around his hand and wrist.
In 160 games last season, Lindor had an MLB-high 762 plate appearances while hitting .267 with 31 homers, 86 RBIs and 31 steals. He was left off Puerto Rico’s roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic over insurance coverage.
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