Aug 18, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
24 hours ago, it would have been a reasonable opinion to think that too much was being made of Dave Dombrowski's comments about whether Bryce Harper is still an elite player during his year-end press conference last week.
It no longer is.
Friday evening, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that people around Harper relayed that he was "pissed off" about Dombrowski's comments.
If you had any questions about the legitimacy of that report, Harper basically confirmed his feelings in a conversation with Matt Gelb of The Athletic Saturday.
“All players get hurt,” Harper said Saturday. “I hurt my wrist this year and missed a month. Of course I don’t have full-year numbers.
“It’s disappointing to hear me being questioned about my contribution to the team. Just really hurt by that notion because I love Philly so much.”
We're not going to repost every quote that Harper gave to Gelb. Props to Matt for getting ahold of Harper in the offseason, a period in which you don't usually hear from the two-time NL MVP. His full story is worth your time.
By his own standards, Bryce Harper had a down season. Will that become a trend? Dave Dombrowski says it’s up to Harper.
“I guess we will find out if he becomes elite, or if he continues to be good.”
(via @GraceDelPizzo) pic.twitter.com/8hjsp5yJRC
During his year-end press conference on Oct. 16 — which happens to be Harper's birthday — Dombrowski said the following when asked about Harper's season.
"I guess we'll find out if he becomes elite (again) or he continues to be good," Dombrowski said of Harper. "Can he rise to the next level? I don't really know the answer. He's the one that will dictate that more than anything else.
"I don't think he's content with the year that he had. It wasn't a bad year, but when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite. You think one of the top 10 players in baseball. I don't think he fit into that category. Very good player, but I have no idea. I've seen guys his age ... level off, and I've seen guys rise again. We'll see what happens."
Were Dombrowski's comments wrong? Considering Harper hit .261 with 27 home runs, 75 RBIs and an .844 OPS over 132 games — really good production from most, but not among Harper's finer seasons — the comments were accurate. But they probably would have made more sense coming from an analyst, as opposed to the team's top baseball executive.
Harper did go on to tell Gelb that he's particularly upset that Dombrowski's comments led to speculation about the Phillies being open to trading him. That came both locally from multiple hosts on SportsRadio 94 WIP and nationally, with Joel Sherman of The New York Post lending credence to the idea earlier this week:
“Would I be 100% shocked if Bryce Harper got traded this offseason? No”
-Joel Sherman on Pinstripe Post pic.twitter.com/T7x1jKsnWj
Dombrowski attempted to squash it all Thursday in an appearance on "Foul Territory":
Dave Dombrowski firmly shut down the rumors about the Phillies trading Bryce Harper, per @FoulTerritoryTV. pic.twitter.com/A61G5Y4SDT
Evidently, Harper — who did tell Gelb that he hasn't yet spoken with Dombrowski or managing partner John Middleton this offseason — is still frustrated by the situation. Dombrowski did suggest to Heyman Friday that he planned to talk about the comments with Harper at some point, and perhaps that conversation now needs to be expedited.
We'll probably never know, but it would be interesting to know what Dombrowski tells Harper the reason for the comments was. There's been speculation that Dombrowski was trying to in some way motivate Harper with the comments. Perhaps he was, but the biggest problem for Harper in recent years hasn't been work ethic or desire, but rather ability to stay on the field. That was again the case in 2025, when Harper missed most of the month of June with right wrist inflammation. There's no amount of motivation that could have prevented that, it's just the reality for a player approaching his mid-30s that entered the league when he was 19 years old.
