(Photo credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images)

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper admitted that he was surprised by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski's comments that suggested the star may no longer be an elite player.

Harper, however, said that he's using Dombrowski's critical comments as a source of motivation heading into the eighth season of his 13-year, $330 million contract.

'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 Sunday. '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.'

A two-time National League MVP and eight-time All-Star, Harper acknowledged that his 2025 season wasn't up to his standards. He batted just .261 with 27 homers and 75 RBIs in 132 games during the regular season and went 3-for-15 with zero RBIs in the Phillies' four-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series.

'Obviously, I didn't have the year that I wanted,' Harper said. 'Obviously, I don't have a postseason I wanted. My numbers weren't where they needed to be. I know that, and I don't need to be motivated to be great in my career or anything else. So that's just not a motivating factor for me. For Dave to come out and say those things, it's kind of wild to me still.'

Dombrowski didn't mince words in October when discussing Harper's 2025 season.

'Can he rise to the next level again? I don't really know that answer,' Dombrowski said at the time. '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 don't think it fit into that category.'

Harper is a career .280 hitter with a .905 OPS, 363 homers and 1,051 RBIs in 1,785 games with the Washington Nationals (2012-18) and Phillies. He was named the NL's Rookie of the Year in 2012 and the Most Valuable Player in 2015 and 2021.

--Field Level Media