Stephen Vogt addresses if Guardians will name captain after Steve Cohen comments

Big-spending New York Mets owner Steve Cohen generated headlines and sparked some interesting conversations throughout the MLB community when he said that the Mets "will never" have an official team captain under his watch. 

On Wednesday, Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was asked about his feelings on potentially naming a veteran player as his club's captain ahead of the 2026 season. Vogt's response likely won't shock those who are familiar with recent Cleveland baseball history.

Are Cleveland Guardians preparing to name a team captain?

"In my opinion, the captain is not a thing in baseball," Vogt explained, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I don’t have any disrespect for anyone who believes otherwise, but our guys gravitate to each other."

Similarly, Cohen said that "having a captain in baseball doesn't happen often." He and Vogt are correct, as Anthony DiComo of the MLB website shared on Monday that New York Yankees star Aaron Judge and Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals are currently the league's only recognized captains. 

That said, the idea of the Guardians possibly naming longtime infielder Jose Ramirez their captain has hovered over the franchise for years. The Guardians have been Ramirez's only club since he made his MLB debut in 2013, and he repeatedly has left money on the table by signing team-friendly deals to remain in Cleveland. 

According to Zack Meisel of The Athletic, the franchise now known as the Guardians hasn't had an official captain since the end of the 1989 campaign. 

Stephen Vogt: Naming a captain "is not baseball"

"I think if you took a poll of our locker room, our guys would say, 'We go where Jose Ramirez goes,'" Vogt added. "But they could also say we go where [catcher Austin Hedges], [outfielder Steven Kwan] or [designated hitter David Fry] go. We have so many great leaders in that room — to name one a captain is not how our game works. To me, Jose is our captain. He’s our best player, (but) to name a captain, to me, is not baseball."

In his piece from 2023, Meisel noted that "Ramirez isn’t the type to crave attention." Thus, Vogt may be doing the fan-favorite star a favor by not following in the footsteps of the Yankees and Royals.