Bryce Harper's Trade Deadline Comments Reportedly 'Annoyed' Phillies Brass, Don Mattingly Responds
Bryce Harper has made no secret of his desire for the Philadelphia Phillies to add new pieces ahead of Monday's trade deadline, which reportedly did not sit well with the front office.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported Harper and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski "have not repaired their relationship," which is notable since the first baseman's recent comments "annoyed team officials" and also drew a response from interim manager Don Mattingly.
"I sense Bryce is thinking about it," Mattingly said. "I don't really sense anybody else thinking about it, honestly. And you've been through this; guys want to be GMs without a real understanding of where the organization is, exactly where this thing goes. Not only this year, but moving forward.
"Players like being GMs and making calls and spending other people's money. So I just let it go at that. I mean, Dave's been doing this a while. He's never really backed away from trying to get guys. We're trying to get better. We're going to try to get better at the deadline."
Harper turned heads after Tuesday's 1-0 loss to the Miami Marlins when he told reporters "I think we need some help" and could use "both" pitching and hitting.
It wasn't the first time he made such comments, as he previously told reporters, "I mean everybody in here knows what we want. Everybody in baseball kind of knows what we need. So there's players out there that are available, and I think we have a good opportunity to go get the guys we need. If that's bullpen, if that's in our lineup, if that's a starting pitcher. You guys know what our five spot's looked like all year."
Such direct comments from a star player will always draw headlines, but they were amplified by the Phillies' recent struggles.
Those struggles didn't get better Wednesday, as they blew a 6-0 lead on the way to an 8-6 loss to the Miami Marlins. They are now an ugly 3-9 since the All-Star break and 1-7 in the last eight games following a three-game sweep at the hands of their National League East rivals.
The offense failed to score more than one run in six of the 12 games since the break, and Harper entered Wednesday's contest hitting just .165 in July.
All of this comes after Dombrowski publicly wondered if Harper could still be an elite player at this stage of his career, which Gelb noted upset the two-time MVP and nine-time All-Star. Now the future Hall of Famer has publicly challenged the front office to improve the overall team before it is too late.
"I mean, Bryce is Bryce," Mattingly said. "He's going to say what he wants. I'm not really concerned about it. I take it kind of with a grain of salt. And knowing how players are over the years, it's not the first time I've heard this. I always look at it, like, internally. 'I got to get better. We got to get better.' Simple as that."
The good news for Philadelphia is the team is still in playoff positioning and 1.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres for the final National League wild-card spot despite the recent struggles. And with talent in place such as Harper and Kyle Schwarber, it would be anything but surprising if the Phillies turned things around down the stretch.
But that would probably be easier if the front office made some additions at the trade deadline, even if Harper's comments annoyed the group.
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