PHILADELPHIA – Last week, Dave Dombrowski spoke for nearly an hour about the Phillies’ postseason shortfalls, the upcoming offseason and the franchise’s chances to win a World Series in 2026.
One answer to one question hasn’t gone away.
Dombrowski tried to clarify his comments about Bryce Harper’s ability to be an elite player again on Thursday’s episode of Foul Territory.
“First of all, to me, Bryce Harper is one of the best players in the game of baseball,” Dombrowski said on the show. “They asked me, ‘What type of year did you think he had?’ And I said, ‘He had a very good year; I don’t think he had an elite year.’
"When I say that, when I think of Bryce Harper, it’s a compliment. Because the reality is there are eight to 10 players in the game of baseball every year, when they’re not let’s say in the MVP consideration for whatever reason -- sometimes it can be an injury factor, sometimes they just have a bad year -- but it’s not an elite year for them.”
It’s important to read the initial question and answer from Thursday to understand why this has been such a talking point for more than a week. A reporter asked Dombrowski, “What is the club’s view on [Harper’s] season … performance-wise? And also why do you believe maybe that it was a down season for him and not the start of maybe a downward trend?”
Dombrowski’s response:
“He’s still a quality player. He’s still an All-Star-caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past. And I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good. If you look around the league, I think … Freddie Freeman: He’s a really good player, right? He still is a good player. Is he elite like he was before? Probably not to the same extent. Freddie is a tremendous player, and that, to me, is Bryce. Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that 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. And again, it wasn’t a bad year. But when you think of Bryce Harper, you think of elite, right? You think of one of the top 10 players in baseball, and I don’t think it fit into that category. But again, a very good player. I’ve seen guys at his age -- again, he’s not old -- that level off. Or I’ve seen guys rise again.”
Some took Dombrowski’s comments as perhaps a challenge to Harper.
Others took his comments much further.
Are the Phillies trying to trade Harper, who has a full no-trade clause? Are the Phils and Harper in a spat about a contract extension, which has been a topic of conversation the past two Winter Meetings? Harper next year will be in the eighth year of a 13-year, $330 million contract.
“This thing's got a life of its own,” Dombrowski said on Foul Territory. “Now I’ve been reading that, ‘Oh, the Phillies may trade Bryce Harper.’ That couldn’t be further from the truth. We love him. We think he’s a great player. He’s a very important part of our team. I’ve seen him have better years. I look for him to have better years.”
Harper, who turned 33 last week, batted .261 with 27 homers, 75 RBIs and an .844 OPS this season. It was his lowest OPS since 2016 (.814), and he posted his lowest OPS+ (129) since 2019 (126). But Harper’s OPS still ranked 22nd out of 145 qualified players in baseball, and his expected metrics were mostly better than in 2024, when he batted .285 with 30 homers, 87 RBIs and an .898 OPS.
MLB.com spoke earlier this week with Scott Boras, Harper’s agent. Asked if Harper was upset by Dombrowski’s comments, Boras said, “Bryce shares in the frustration of the Phillies not being a world champion. Dave has to do the catharsis every year when they don’t win it, and I’m sure it’s difficult to do. However, give Bryce Harper more pitches to hit and the metrics speak that all that they want will be delivered. Because the metrics are clearly there that he’s among the top in the game. He continues to be. All that data says that.
“The only issue that I was surprised by is that Dave did not say that Bryce Harper missed a month of the season [with a right wrist injury], and therefore his numbers volume-wise weren’t there. But Bryce Harper being Bryce Harper is a talent, and how they can improve is that he’s got to get more pitches to hit.”
Boras cited a statistic in a recent story that noted that Harper saw pitches in the zone only 43% of time this season, the fewest out of 532 players (minimum 200 pitches).
“That’s the stat,” Boras said.
In other words, it would help Harper if had a slugger hitting behind him in the lineup.
“You put gas in the tank and the Harperi – meaning the Ferrari – works,” Boras said.
Todd Zolecki
@ToddZolecki