Anything Bryce Harper does that seems odd or what he elects to do with his personal life attracts plenty of attention. This past year alone Harper drew an audience through his TikTok videos of him making banana bread, his workout routine with a 1980s style mustache, posting his blood ozone treatment, wearing cleats with the opposition’s colors, and being part of an altercation with Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred following a salary cap dispute in the Phillies locker room.

Clearly it was quite the year 2025 for Harper living in the headlines, but he made sure to squeeze in one more controversial moment before the New Year. Harper took the internet by storm again Friday night when he potentially landed a jab on Philadelphia’s President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski

He didn’t have an elite season like he has in the past. I guess we’ll only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good,” Dombrowski said. “Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know the answer. He’s the one that will dictate that more than anything else is what it comes down to. I don’t think he’s content with the year that he had. It wasn’t a bad year, but when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite. You think one of the top 10 players in baseball and I don’t think it fit into that category.”

Harper very well could be using that comment as ammunition and a fire under him for the 2026 season now, but he did voice his frustrations weeks prior feeling betrayed by Dombrowski’s comments in an interview with Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

“It’s disappointing to hear me being questioned about my contribution to the team. Just really hurt by that notion because I love Philly so much.”

Over his first seven years with the Phillies, Harper has a 26.3 WAR, 179 home runs and 530 RBI in 858 games. His .281/.386/.526 slash line as a Phillie is a tick higher than the seven seasons he spent in Washington.

Harper battled through a wrist injury in 2025 resulting in an offensive drop-off at the plate displaying a .261 average, 75 RBI, and a .844 OPS, his lowest since arriving in Philadelphia. Again, not the worst season statistically, but when you’ve been the poster child in Philadelphia since 2019 after signing a 13-year, $330 million contract, expectations are high regardless of Harper performing under a constant microscope.

On top of that, the ‘Showman’ really didn’t put on a show come October going 3-for-15 and not scoring a single runner in the National League Division Series leading to another early exit for the Phillies.

It wasn’t just Harper. Dombrowski’s ‘not elite’ remark targeted Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman too. Freeman responded not by wearing a shirt but instead hitting a walk-off home run in Game 3 of the World Series 12 days after Dombrowski publicized his opinion on now a three-time World Series champion.

Who knows, this whole storyline could be a ploy for Dombrowski to have Harper break out in a revenge year in 2026 while the 33-year-old embraces his ‘not elite’ title. He also could still be bitter with his boss and wanted to take a shot at Dombrowski, but the comment clearly worked for Freeman so hopefully it rubs off on Harper and motivates him too.

Whatever the case may be, Harper’s first opportunity to remove that two-word stigma comes in March during the World Baseball Classic when he represents Team USA.