Inside The Mets

David Wright Addresses Steve Cohen's Mets Captain Refusal

New York Mets legend David Wright spoke about a controversial decision from Owner Steve Cohen.
David Wright
David Wright | IMAGO / NurPhoto

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When speaking to the media on February 16, Steve Cohen explained why the New York Mets would never have a captain while he was the franchise's owner.

"My view is, the locker room is unique, and let the locker room sort it out year-in, year-out," Cohen said, per an X post from Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media.

"My own views on how I want a locker 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, right? It's actually unusual. So whatever previous ownership did, that was their way of doing things. I look at things differently," Cohen added.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

David Wright's Stance on Mets Not Having a Captain Speaks Volumes

Of course, the most recent Mets player to be named team captain was David Wright, who held that role from 2013 to his retirement in 2018.

Wright spoke with the media on March 9 and was asked about Cohen's comments about not naming a Mets captain.

"You know, to me, that signals there's a lot of leaders in that clubhouse. Again, I just got here yesterday, but getting a chance to meet some of the new guys. Meeting Francisco [Lindor] for the past few years, knowing Juan [Soto] for the last few years. When you have a handful, or a group of leaders in there, that is just as good, if not better, than having a single leader," Wright said, per an X post from SNY.

New York Mets former third baseman David Wright
New York Mets former third baseman David Wright | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

"To me, times change. It makes sense when you have the veteran group that they have in here, especially with some of these young guys, where that group can get together with these young guys, these top prospects, and say, 'Hey, this is how we're gonna do it.'

"I think that that's what made the team successful; the success that we had when I played, it seemed like those clubhouses had a group of leaders that would, starting now, let these young players know, 'This is how we play the game, this is how we can carry ourselves, this is how you, as a young player, can lead by example,'" Wright continued.

"I think that's kind of what's going on right now. And it all starts with [Carlos Mendoza], and I think he does a great job of having his finger on the pulse in there, collecting those veteran players — whether it's once a week, once a month, whatever it is — and kind of letting them police the clubhouse," he concluded.

There you have it. If Wright sees no issues with this decision, it suggests Mets fans should feel the same.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.