There are comments baseball executives keep to themselves.And then there’s what Dave Dombrowski said about Bryce Harper last week at the club's end of season media availability.
“He’s still a quality player,” the Phillies’ president of baseball operations said. “Still an All-Star-caliber player. But he didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past. I guess we only find out if he becomes elite again or continues to be good.”
That sentence echoed across Philadelphia like a crack off Harper’s own bat — unexpected, loud, impossible to ignore. Because this wasn’t a talk-radio caller wondering if Harper’s best days were gone. This was the man who built the roster questioning, in public, whether his franchise star could still be elite.
Dombrowski has always been blunt, but this was different. For a front-office executive to say aloud that he’s unsure about a superstar’s future level of dominance? That’s baseball’s version of saying the quiet part out loud.
Harper, entering his age-33 season, just wrapped what most players would consider a strong year: a .261 average, 27 home runs, and an .844 OPS. But by Harper’s standards, it was a step back — his lowest OPS in a Phillies uniform. His hard-hit rate dipped, his barrel percentage sagged, and a month lost to wrist inflammation muted the volume of his production.
If you watched every game, you could see it: the violence in his swing was still there, but maybe a half-beat slower. The competitive fire hadn’t dimmed, but the results weren’t as loud.
So when Dombrowski said what he said, it wasn’t wrong factually. It was just rare to hear a team executive admit it publicly.
Within days, Scott Boras — Harper’s longtime agent and perennial defender — picked up the phone.
“I agree that Bryce missed time due to injury and that his volume was down,” Boras told sportswriter Christian Red in a recent interview. “But other than that, Bryce Harper is performing at an elite level on a number of characteristics that we keep track of.
“By comparing Harper to Harper,” Boras continued, “his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in 2025 was as good or better than it was in the 2019, 2022, and 2023 seasons with Philadelphia. And better than his 2016 and 2018 seasons with Washington. Granted, he missed time in ’22 and ’23, but his WAR is the same as those seasons, too.”
Then came the line that quieted any trade whisper:
“I don’t think Dave (Dombrowski) or (Phillies majority owner) John (Middleton) or anybody is contemplating Bryce Harper not being a Philadelphia Phillie for the rest of his career.”
That’s classic Boras — wielding data as shield and sabre, turning critique into case study.
Boras isn’t wrong, either. Measured by advanced metrics, Harper’s underlying game still screams “elite.” His xwOBA, expected batting average, and walk rate all remained among the league’s top ten percentiles. Even in what many call a “down year,” he was still a 5-WAR player.
What Dombrowski likely meant — but perhaps phrased too sharply — is that the Phillies need the Harper again. The October legend. The guy who stared down Hunter Strickland. The one who turned Citizens Bank Park into a mosh pit of red-clad chaos.
In other words, the version that doesn’t just produce, but transcends.
Harper has never been a passive presence. He sets tone. He drives standard. And if you think a quote like Dombrowski’s won’t become motivational wallpaper on his mental bulletin board, you haven’t been watching him long enough.
He’s built for this. Every time the baseball world doubts him, he responds — louder, better, angrier, more determined. Remember 2021, when critics said the Phillies were wasting his prime? He answered with an MVP. Remember 2022, when his elbow gave out? He answered by slugging the Phillies into their first World Series since 2009.
Dombrowski’s honesty may also signal a franchise shift — not away from Harper, but toward accountability. The Phillies are staring down luxury-tax lines and aging contracts. “Elite” isn’t just a label anymore; it’s a financial category. To justify another massive payroll, ownership needs production that matches investment.
That’s why Dombrowski’s comment, while startling, fits the math. It wasn’t emotional. It was analytical. A line drawn between what Harper is and what the Phillies still need him to be.
Maybe that’s what makes this moment so fascinating. In most cities, a front-office remark would fade within a news cycle. But in Philadelphia, where stars become symbols and symbols carry weight, words matter.
Dombrowski said the quiet part out loud.
Boras answered with a spreadsheet.
And somewhere in between, Harper heard both — and started sharpening his swing for 2026.
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