New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has declared he will not have a team captain.
Major League Baseball's official outlet MLB.com reported on the 17th (Korea time) that "The Mets have not had a captain since David Wright played his final game eight years ago. And it looks like that will continue for the time being," relaying Cohen's remarks.
Billionaire Cohen bought the Mets on Sept. 24, 2020, for $2.4 billion (about 3.468 trillion won). Since then he has spent lavishly on player acquisitions. A prominent example was acquiring Juan Soto last season for $765 million over 15 years (about 1.1054 trillion won). That contract surpassed Shohei Ohtani's and the Dodgers' 10-year, $700 million (about 1.0115 trillion won) mark in just one year.
A man with a deep interest in baseball, Cohen is heavily involved in roster management. At this spring camp he made a startling remark, saying "As long as I own the club, there will never be a team captain," and adding, "That is my decision. In my view the clubhouse is a unique space, and since the team changes every year it is better to let the clubhouse run itself."
MLB.com said, "In recent seasons the perennial spring camp issue has been discussion of a 'captain.' In particular, Francisco Lindor was regarded as a figure who had virtually all the 'implicit conditions' — a star player on a long-term contract who is also considered to have strong leadership. But Cohen said he has no intention of appointing anyone as captain, including Lindor," emphasizing the owner's strong will.
Saying "I thought that from the start," Cohen described it as "my personal view of how I want the clubhouse to be run," adding, "Since the team changes every year, rather than assigning a specific role I want to let the team find its own answers in the clubhouse. Having a captain in baseball is not common. In fact, designating a captain is the exceptional thing. The methods of previous owners are their methods, and I think differently," he said.
Unlike the KBO League, where every club has a team captain, having a team captain is actually rare in Major League Baseball. MLB.com explained, "Among the 30 major league clubs, only two teams currently have the captain role. The Yankees' Aaron Judge and the Royals' Salvador Perez are those figures. This is a difference from sports such as football and ice hockey, where most teams have one or multiple captains."
With owner Cohen publicly saying he will not appoint a team captain, the uncomfortable relationship between Lindor and Soto that surfaced last season is once again under scrutiny. Lindor, who has taken on a clubhouse leader role, publicly mentioned Soto's individualistic tendencies, sparking controversy that the two players were at odds.
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