“Not elite”: Bryce Harper responds to his president

Last October, my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois reported that Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski had lit a fire under Bryce Harper by publicly questioning his ability to return to Major League Baseball as an elite player.

Combine that with rumors of a trade, and you've got a cocktail of speculation and grumbling in the making between the two men.

The Phillies' first baseman reacted intelligently to the situation, showing up at the batting cage wearing a jersey that read “Not Elite.” Harper let his attire do the talking for him, and the message is loud and clear to Dombrowski.

Harper never asked to leave the Phillies, and he's certainly hurt by his boss's comments, which are a little clumsy in their attempt to motivate his star player. At the end of the day, Dombrowski may also be trying to turn his team into a war machine that will arrive at the next training camp not only in a good position to make the playoffs again, but also to claim the title.

For a few seasons now, the Phillies have been tipped to go very far in the playoffs, as many of their good players, including Harper, are either at the peak of their careers or on the verge of going downhill. And David Dombrowski knows this all too well.

Bryce Harper posted a video on his TikTok of him in the batting cages wearing a shirt that says “NOT ELITE.” pic.twitter.com/kK1Mz3zGNW

– Phillies Central (@philscentral_) December 27, 2025

The Phillies need to win now, because the team isn't young anymore and their window of opportunity will soon close.

By whipping Harper in this way, the team's big man is looking to take it to the next level by forcing his team's best player to excel and lead his team to ultimate victory.

Let's just say that it's an old-fashioned way of doing things, and that the two men should have taken some time together to set clear objectives, but in 2025 (soon to be 2026), things are different in professional sport. Athletes have become businesses run by agents who act as a screen to protect their interests. Talking into each other's eyes is no longer the norm, and using the media is often the only way to communicate.

Harper had already left the Washington Nationals before the 2019 season when they won the World Series against the Houston Astros, and since he's been in Philadelphia, the Phillies have won nothing except two division titles (2024 and 2025) and a World Series appearance in 2022, won by the Houston Astros, in six games.

I'm not saying that Dombrowski isn't capable of leading his team to greatness, but something has to happen in Philadelphia between now and the end of his contract in 2031, and we can't wait until it's one minute to midnight to make it happen.

David Dombrowski needs Bryce Harper, and so do the Phillies. He must prove beyond any doubt to his boss, his teammates, and the Phillies' fans that he still belongs to the elite class of his sport.

This content was created with the help of AI.