Bryce Harper, Phillies' Dombrowski Had 'Good' Talk After Exec's Remarks on Star's Play

Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had a sit-down talk with Bryce Harper in the wake of comments criticizing some aspects of his performance from the 2025 season.

Dombrowski told reporters at the general manager meetings he had a "good conversation" with Harper, but declined to offer specifics about what they said to each other aside from it being "productive."

"I've spoken to him. We had a nice conversation. Everything went well," said Dombrowski.

The conversation came in the wake of Dombrowski's end-of-season press conference on Oct. 16 when he described Harper as still being a "quality player," but questioned if he would return to being an MVP-caliber superstar going forward:

"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 if he continues to be good. I look around the league … 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's a tremendous player. And, that to me, is Bryce. Can he rise to the next level again? I don't really know that answer."

Those comments raised a lot of eyebrows, including Harper's, who told The Athletic's Matt Gelb he was "hurt" by both what Dombrowski said and the speculation that Philadelphia might look to trade him.

"I have given my all to Philly from the start," Harper said. "Now there is trade talk? I made every effort to avoid this. It's all I heard in D.C. (with the Nationals). I hated it. It makes me feel uncomfortable."

Dombrowski has dismissed the notion of Harper being traded. It's worth noting even if the Phillies wanted to trade Harper, he has a full no-trade clause unswe MLB's 10-and-5 rights rule.

Harper has six years remaining on his 13-year, $330 million contract signed in March 2019. He hit .261/.357/.487 with 27 homers in 132 games during the 2024 season.

In his first seven years with the Phillies, Harper has made two All-Star teams and won the NL MVP award in 2021. He has led the team to four consecutive playoff appearances, including back-to-back NL East titles in 2024 and 2025 and an appearance in the 2022 World Series.