Dave Dombrowski shuts down Bryce Harper trade speculation: ‘That couldn’t be further from the truth’

The Phillies aren’t trading Bryce Harper.

It’s silly that it’s a real conversation, but Dave Dombrowski’s comments on Harper’s 2025 season fueled some speculation that the Phillies could be thinking about moving its star first baseman.

Dombrowski was frank in his assessment of Harper’s year in last week’s end-of-season press conference at Citizens Bank Park.

Question: And with regards to Bryce, what is the club’s view on his season performance-wise? And also, why do you believe that maybe it was just a down season for him and not the start of maybe a downward trend?

Dombrowski: Well, I mean in Bryce’s case, he’s still a quality player, an All-Star caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he’s had in the past. I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good. It’s not like he’s, if you say to me, if you 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. So that’s nothing that could — Freddie is a tremendous player. And that, to me, is Bryce. Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that answer. Really he is the one that will dictate that more than anything else. It’s what it comes down to. I don’t think he’s content with the year that he had. And again, it wasn’t a bad year, but when I think of Bryce Harper, you’re thinking elite, right? You’re thinking 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 when you see somebody. I have seen guys his age, again he’s not old, that level off. Or I’ve seen guys that rise again. We’ll see what happens.

Dombrowski appeared on the show Foul Territory and responded to the reaction to his comments regarding Harper.

“Of course, it’s got a life of its own,” Dombrowski said. “I said so many things in a one hour press conference, and this is the one thing that gets out there. First of all, to me, Bryce Harper is one of the best players in the game of baseball.”

Harper will enter his eighth season with the Phillies in 2026. He has a full no-trade clause. He’s here for the long haul.

“They asked me what type of year did you think he had,” Dombrowski said. “And I said he had a very good year, I don’t think he had an elite year. When I think of Bryce Harper, it’s a compliment because the reality is there are 8 to 10 players in the game of baseball every year when they’re not in the MVP consideration for whatever reason. Sometimes it can be an injury factor, sometimes they just have a bad year. It’s not an elite year for them. So the reality is that he’s a great player, he’s a future Hall of Famer. This thing’s got a life of its own. Now I’ve been reading that the Phillies may trade Bryce Harper. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s a great player. He’s a very important part of our team. I’ve seen him have better years. I look for him to have better years.”

2025 was a down season relative to Harper’s lofty standards. He missed most of June with a bad wrist. He still finished the year with the 11th best OPS (.844) among qualified hitters in the National League. That OPS, however is the lowest in a full season for him since 2016. In his six previous seasons with the Phillies, Harper has had an OPS+ of at least 145, meaning he’s been at least 45 percent better than league average. His OPS+ this season was 129.

Harper still had the second-highest OPS among qualified Phillies hitters this season. He’s not the only star hitter in recent history to have a down year. Mookie Betts battled an illness at the beginning of the year and did not come close to posting his typical numbers at the plate. His OPS dipped to as low as .657 in the beginning of August. George Springer, after two mediocre seasons with Toronto, posted a 161 OPS+ in 586 plate appearances in his age 35 season. Springer also went on to hit a three-run home run in Game 7 of the ALCS to give his team a 4-3 lead.

Thursday marks the three-year anniversary of Harper’s “Bedlam at the Bank” home run in Game 5 of the NLCS. In the 2022 postseason, Harper batted .349 with a 1.160 OPS. In three postseasons with the Phillies prior to 2025, Harper had an OPS of 1.000 in all three years. He went 3-for-15 with one double and a .600 OPS over four games against the Dodgers in the 2025 NLDS.

The Phillies in 2026 are hoping to get a better version of Harper in the regular season and beyond.

“It’s a shame where this has gone because it wasn’t meant to be a criticism,” Dombrowski said.