Phillies' Harper: Dombrowski's review of his play was 'wild' - ESPN

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said Sunday «it's kind of wild to me still» that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski suggested in October that the two-time National League MVP may no longer be an elite player.

Harper said he wasn't motivated by Dombrowski's comments. He added he didn't understand why Dombrowski made public his review of Harper's season and postseason.

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

Harper's .844 OPS last season was his lowest since 2016, and his .261 average was his worst since 2019. Harper, 33, has six seasons left on his 13-year, $330 million deal. He hit 27 homers and drove in 75 runs in the 2025 regular season and was 3-for-15 with no RBIs in the Phillies' four-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series.

Harper's numbers led Dombrowski to conclude it was a good season but below his MVP levels of 2015 with the Washington Nationals and 2021 with the Phillies.

«Can he rise to the next level again? I don't really know that answer,» Dombrowski said after last season. «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. Again, it wasn't a bad year. But when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite, you think of one of the top 10 players in baseball, and I