Bryce Harper Still Seems Bothered by Dave Dombrowski's Candid Answer

He could have chosen his words more carefully, but all Dave Dombrowski did four months ago was answer a question honestly.

Thirty-four minutes into the Phillies' end-of-year press conference on Oct. 16, Dombrowski was asked whether he thought Bryce Harper's 2025 was just a down year or the start of a downward trend.

We live in a soundbite- and headline-driven world, so only one piece of Dombrowski's answer made the rounds in most places. Here was his full answer about Harper:

The 'elite' comment

"In Bryce's case, of course he's still a quality player, an All-Star caliber player," Dombrowski said. "He didn't have an elite season like he has in the past and I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good.

"It's like if you say to me, l look around the league, Freddie Freeman, he's a really good player, he still is a good player. Is he elite like he was before? Probably not to the same extent. Can he rise to the next level again? I really don't know that answer and he's the one that will dictate that more than anything else.

"I don't think he's content with the year he had, and again it wasn't a bad year. But when I think of Bryce Harper, you're thinking elite and one of the top 10 players in baseball and I don't think it fit into that category. But again, very good player. I have no idea. I've seen guys his age — again he's not old — that level off, or I've seen guys rise again. We'll see what happens."

Harper's offseason response

Harper, obviously, was not happy with the answer from his team's president of baseball operations, and his annoyance is understandable because most outlets' takeaway from that afternoon was, Can you believe Dombrowski said Harper might not be elite anymore?! Even though the next sentence compared him to another future Hall of Famer, Freeman, who, like Harper, was very good in 2025 but not quite his MVP-caliber self.

Harper was miffed by the public nature of the comment and at one point during the winter put out a batting practice video of him wearing a t-shirt that read Not Elite.

'Kind of wild to me still'

The face of the Phillies' franchise arrived in Clearwater this weekend and said this to reporters, including 94 WIP and MLB.com:

"I don't get motivated by that kind of stuff. For me, it was kind of wild, the whole situation of that happening. I think the big thing for me was when we first met with this organization, it was, 'Hey, you know, we're always going to keep things in house and we expect you to do the same thing.' When that didn't happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit.

"It's part of it, I guess. It's kind of a wild situation, that even happening. Obviously, I didn't have the year I wanted, the postseason that I wanted, my numbers weren't where they needed to be. I know that and I don't need to be motivated to be great in my career or anything else. That's just not a motivating factor for me. For Dave to come out and say those things, it's kind of wild to me still."

Just being honest

Dombrowski is an old-school front-office man who tries to answer questions openly rather than give canned replies. Obviously, there are times when it doesn't behoove a GM or president of baseball operations to divulge sensitive info that may affect a trade or signing, but largely, Dombrowski tries to answer the question he's asked without veering into cliches or GM-speak.

The question in October was asked by Matt Gelb of The Athletic, who covers the Phillies as well as anyone covers any MLB team. Dombrowski's honesty may have, in part, been due to wanting to respect a top-notch veteran reporter with an honest answer.

The part of Dombrowski's response that drew ire was, "Can he rise to the next level again? I really don't know." But the assessment of Harper's season was spot-on. It was not an MVP-caliber season, and the Phillies' year ended in a Divisional Series against the Dodgers in which Harper went 3-for-15 without an RBI.

Harper hit .261/.357/.487 last season with 32 doubles, 27 home runs and 75 RBI. A very good year with an OPS 44% above the league average but still well below the lofty standard Harper has set. His .844 OPS in 2025 was his lowest since 2016. The .357 OBP was his lowest since 2014.

By responding, "I don't know," in that moment, Dombrowski was living in reality and it has proved costly. Past success does not determine future success, especially in baseball where performance is dictated by micro-second swing decisions. It's hard to know if Harper will be the best version of himself in 2026. Same with Aaron Nola. Same with every player on the roster.

There were other ways Dombrowski could have answered the question about Harper in mid-October. He could have said Harper is a tireless worker obsessed with realizing his full potential each year. He could have spelled out reasons for Harper's lesser season, most notably the right wrist inflammation he played through early.

This will be Year 8 with the Phillies for Harper, who is more than halfway through his 13-year, $330 million contract. Not every year is going to be a career year. If it was, he'd have 12 MVPs instead of two.

What Dombrowski said wasn't overtly offensive, it was just the kind of honesty you don't often hear in 2026 and that caught everyone, including Harper, off guard. Harper still seems bothered by it, but that might also just be him repaying Dombrowski by delivering the same sort of honesty.