Dave Dombrowski detailed his relationship with Philadelphia Phillies' star Bryce Harper and how much impact Harper has on the team pursuing other players, specifically mentioning Harper's role in acquiring new Phillie Whit Merrifield this offseason.
"He will say to me and I have a great deal of respect for him—Bryce is very knowledgeable about the game of baseball, he is very knowledgeable," Dombrowski told Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie live in Clearwater on Tuesday's 94WIP Morning Show. "He'll say, 'If you think I am overstepping my bounds, please tell me.' So yes, he has made that comment to me and I said, 'I'll gladly say something to you if I think you have gone too far.'
"He'll send me a text, 'Hey what do you think about this?' Great. For example, we had been talking to Whit Merrifield about his situation of signing with us. Looking for more money than we wanted, a longer term contract, it was going no where at that particular point. I actually asked a couple of our guys about an extra player that was out there and Bryce says, 'Well what about Whit Merrifield?' He didn't even know we were talking to him. I says, 'Well I know Whit Merrifield, but X, Y, Z.' He says, 'Well would you mind if I reached out to him?'
"And it makes a big difference when a Bryce Harper, or J.T. Realmuto, or Kyle Schwarber, or Trea Turner—it shows how we're all in this together. Perhaps if I was 30 and I was just starting on the job I would be like, 'Ah I'm not so sure about how I feel about that.' But the reality is, you've been through it enough you say, OK, it's part of the process. I don't mean this to sound in the negative, but Bryce Harper is probably going to be here longer than me. So he should feel comfortable with what's going on in that regard. He's a great player, he's a great leader and shoot, I couldn't think of anybody I'd rather have up at the plate in a big spot."
Dombrowski says Harper, and others, will communicate directly with him at times, something that Dombrowski embraces, but ultimately explains that the team makes the final decision.
"He's not only a great player, he's also unique as far as his ability with the game and thought processes and all of that," Dombrowski said of Harper. "Players now, some of them will send me a text. Harper gets the attention, but I have other players that do that too. Frankly, at this stage of this career it's great, I don't really care because the reality is that the responsibility still relies on my shoulders to make that final decision—and of course [managing partner] John Middleton's and [general manager] Sam Fuld's. So I think in Bryce's case, he is driven to be the best player he possibly can, to put together an All-Star club that never loses a game.
"And I think with Bryce with people in the clubhouse, basically, they respect that part of him, they understand that part of him. But, like I always tell people, I do have a budget. We have a great owner—yeah, it's a very high budget."
Two weeks ago, Harper made comments about the Phillies' pursuing two top MLB starting pitchers who remain free-agents in Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell, possibly slighting backend of the rotation teammates in Taijuan Walker and Cristopher Sanchez.
"Having the opportunity to have a one-two punch with Wheels and Noles, there’s not much like it in baseball," Harper said on March 7th. "We have an opportunity to have 1A and 1A again with the two guys up there at the top. Then you go Ranger and two other guys still out there right now, so we might have a chance at those two guys as well."
"I think our players in the clubhouse, they don't take it all personally," Dombrowski said when asked about the comment on Tuesday's 94WIP Morning Show. "They don't take it as, 'He's not saying something good about me.' It's more like, well sure, you got a couple of the best pitchers in the game of baseball, fantastic. And he's not thinking about those ramifications and I don't think anybody in the clubhouse takes it personally when he says that."
Snell, 31, has since signed a two-year deal with the SF Giants worth $62 million and includes an opt-out after 2024.
Montgomery, a 31-year-old left-handed starter, remains available.
"Well, I think we're really comfortable with where we are right now," Dombrowski said when asked about potentially pursuing Montgomery. "The reality is, our starting pitching—if it stays healthy—it's really good."
Harper, 31, signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies on March 2nd, 2019.
As a Phillie, Harper has been everything and more, slashing .284/.395/.536 with 122 home runs and 368 RBIs over 581 games in five seasons.
He also has been remarkable in the 2022 and 2023 postseasons, recording 32 hits, seven doubles, 11 home runs, and 21 RBIs over 30 games and 105 at-bats including some amazing clutch moments like his go-ahead eighth inning home run in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS to beat the Padres.
Recently, Harper admitted publicly that he was looking for a contract extension, as his annual average value is only $26 million through 2028 and then $22 million in 2029-2031.
On February 7th, Dombrowski was asked about a potential Harper extension on 94WIP.
"He's in a situation where you can always desire or want—anybody can—anything that they like," Dombrowski said. "One way I would just say it...we're thrilled that he's on board. We know that he's a Phillie for eight more years."