The New York Yankees have always felt like a good match for Bryce Harper. The Yankees infamously failed to pursue Harper when he was a free agent during the 2018-19 offseason, an obvious mistake that fans were reminded of recently (and painfully) as Harper expressed his admiration for Derek Jeter and the Yankees’ culture.
Ever since Harper first donned a Philadelphia Phillies uniform, he’s felt destined to end his career wearing one, although comments last week from Phillies GM Dave Dombrowski made fans second-guess that inevitable outcome for a moment.
Speaking on Harper’s 2025 season in a season post-mortem presser, Dombrowski basically said that Harper wasn’t elite this year, and that it remains to be seen whether or not he will be ever again.
Bryce Harper wasn’t an elite MLB hitter in 2025? Was it a down year or the start of a decline at age 33?
“Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that answer. He’s the one that will dictate that more than anything else.” -Dave Dombrowski pic.twitter.com/Pj8AR2cED8
https://twitter.com/ToNewbyginnings/status/1978879669958062132?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Dombrowski’s comments weren’t outrageous, nor did he indicate that Harper wouldn’t be a member of the Phillies moving forward, but not surprisingly, social media — and even some legitimate MLB analysts — took Dombrowski’s words and ran with them in all different directions.
Joel Sherman of The New York Post declared that he “wouldn’t be shocked” if Harper is traded, prompting a serious discussion about whether Harper to the Yankees is viable. Brian Cashman messed up not pursuing Harper harder during the 2019 offseason. Was a mulligan on the horizon?
Before Yankees fans get too carried away, however, they should take note of new comments from Harper’s agent, Scott Boras.
New Scott Boras comments make Bryce Harper-Yankees rumors look silly
“I don’t think Dave (Dombrowski) or John (Middleton) or anybody is contemplating Bryce Harper not being a Philadelphia Phillie for the rest of his career,” Boras said in response to Dombrowski’s remarks (per Christian Red).
“I agree that (Harper) missed time due to injury and that his volume was down, but other than that, Bryce Harper is performing at an elite level on a number of characteristics that we keep track of.”
“When you look into expected baseball stats – Harper is pretty much on par with his career averages,” Boras continued. “He’s surrounded by (Kyle) Tucker, (Fernando) Tatis (Jr.), (Bobby) Witt (Jr.), and (Rafael) Devers. His barrel rate, hard hit rate, exit velocity, are all in the top of MLB. His barrel rate is the same as Vladdy (Guerrero) Jr. and Witt Jr. His exit velocity is the same as Cal Raleigh’s and Julio Rodriguez’s.”
With Boras’s comments out in the open, some critics pointed out that Boras wasn’t being completely transparent about Harper’s stats.
Worthing noting his barrel rate and exit velo were 54th and 49th, respectively, this year.
Boras is using career averages to obfuscate the obvious, for better or worse.
The other guys he mentioned were all top 20 ish in most of those.
https://twitter.com/KyleScottL/status/1980713418660213209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Nonetheless, Boras’s point remains — Harper leaving Philadelphia is highly unlikely, and nothing (including Dombrowski’s press conference) has transpired to suggest otherwise.
Amid what promises to be a slow offseason for the Yankees and for MLB, in general, there will surely be a handful of unrealistic narratives floated out into the airwaves to get the rumor mill churning. Still, it’s important to separate the likely from the unlikely, and the unlikely from the completely implausible.
