Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- A veteran coach leveled serious accusations against the Mets culture this weekend.
- His remarks directly tie the team's struggles to Francisco Lindor who continues to seek elevated roles despite repeated criticism.
- The next decision on the player or the front office could determine whether the franchise rebuilds from within or starts over entirely.
Earlier this year, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen publicly shot down All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor’s request to be a captain.
At this point, the only ship that Lindor will officially be running is a kayak.
Continued concerns regarding the Mets’ clear lack of leadership have skyrocketed in recent days following manager Carlos Mendoza’s firing. Cohen and top baseball executive David Stearns have received heavy criticism, with the latter telling reporters he had no plans to step down.
Former Mets assistant coach Eric Chavez dumped a large can of propane on the fire Sunday night, accusing the Mets of coddling superstar outfielder Juan Soto. Chavez claimed the Mets allowed Soto to sit on a couch in the batting cage with an assistant general manager rather than stay in the dugout during games.
“This isn’t a Juan issue,” Chavez said. “This is a lack of leadership, a lack of accountability, from the top down.”
Although Chavez was referring to Stearns, it’s hard to read his comments and not also immediately think of Lindor.
Francisco Lindor’s lack of leadership has helped doom the Mets
Lindor remained one of baseball’s top shortstops through his first five years with the Mets, hitting .261 with an .800 OPS and 27.4 bWAR. From a statistical perspective, he’s more than lived up to his 10-year, $341 million contract.
The issue, as Lindor has repeatedly proven over the last two years, is that he’s incapable of elevating the clubhouse itself.
Lindor and Mendoza both advocated for the shortstop to become only the fifth captain in team history. The Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Royals’ Salvador Perez are the only active captains in Major League Baseball.
Ah, yes. Because someone deserves to be the captain with the following stains on their resume:
- Lindor and Javier Báez were forced to apologize after doing a “thumbs down” gesture to Mets fans in the summer of 2021.
- The lack of public accountability following last year’s September collapse.
- Publicly begging to be the captain.
- Attending New York Knicks playoff games while on the injured list.
That’s not factoring in how often television cameras have caught him smiling and laughing during blowout losses.
Additionally, we must note that longtime New York sports radio host Mike Francesa claimed last December that the Mets traded veteran outfielder Brandon Nimmo because he and Lindor had a politically-driven feud. Both players shot down that accusation.
Regardless, where has Lindor been over the last year? A major reason why Mendoza lost his job wasn’t only the Mets’ dreadful 2026 season, but just how ugly they’ve played, especially defensively. Even when Lindor was on the IL, we never heard anything about him rallying the troops or putting his foot down.
Plenty of captains, especially in the NFL where teams have several captains, lead by example. Judge isn’t the rah-rah type, at least not publicly, and that’s led to its own issues. But at least the Yankees are always in the playoff hunt, and they’ve only missed the postseason once since Judge effectively replaced CC Sabathia and Brett Gardner as the clubhouse’s lead voice.
But if Soto felt enabled to spend time away from teammates midgame, and the defense is atrocious enough that they can commit six errors in one game, then a large part of that is on Lindor.
Soto’s contract shouldn’t matter. If Lindor truly believes he’s some incredible leader who deserves to be the captain, then it’s on him to rein Soto in and make the expectations clear. Stearns isn’t the one in the Mets’ locker room or wearing the uniform. Mendoza only had so much power as the manager of a player on a 15-year, $765 million contract.
For as overmatched as Mendoza looked throughout the last two seasons, we can’t pin the Mets’ failures entirely on him. Cohen, Stearns, and Lindor all warrant blame, too.
You can’t fire the owner, and there is no indication that Stearns is on the hot seat.
As for Lindor? With the way things are headed, the Mets are better off letting him become someone else’s problem. Otherwise, things will only get worse, and they’ll be stuck with two players on heavy contracts who are ill-equipped to lead and carry a team.
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