Steve Cohen Says Mets Will ‘Never’ Have a Team Captain as Long as He’s Owner

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen likes the vibe in a revamped clubhouse, and says he'll never have a captain in charge of that scene.

"As long as I’m owning the team, there will never be a team captain," Cohen said in his first meeting with reporters at spring training Monday. "That was my decision. My view is the locker room is unique. And let the locker room sort it out, year in, year out."

New York said goodbye to popular slugger Pete Alonso, star closer Edwin Diaz and two other Mets stalwarts before Christmas, but added free agent Bo Bichette and traded for All-Star pitcher Freddy Peralta.

The Mets are going into their third season with manager Carlos Mendoza after they missed the playoffs following a run to the 2024 NL championship series.

"I just was in that locker room and in the meeting and I sense an energy that really is exciting," Cohen said on the day of the team's first full-squad workout. "These are new faces, fresh faces that I think our fans are really going to enjoy watch playing. It’s different. And I think we’ll play a different type of baseball, and I think that’s great."

The rival Yankees had Derek Jeter, known simply as the "the captain," for all 20 of the Hall of Famer's seasons. Becoming an owner in the same city won't sway Cohen, whose view might also keep the Mets from having a tricky choice between two of their biggest stars, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto.

"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 Mets have alternated between making and missing the playoffs