Giving everything for the Phillies, Harper felt deeply hurt by the president's criticism.

Following the Phillies' defeat to the Dodgers in the NLDS, team president Dave Dombrowski stated that their top player Bryce Harper was "not performing at his previous elite level," which led to widespread discussion. Harper responded by saying he was deeply disappointed and emotionally affected.

At the postseason press conference a week ago, Dombrowski said about Harper: "He is certainly still a great player, a star-level athlete, but this year he hasn’t been as elite as before. I guess we just have to wait and see whether he returns to that elite status or remains a good player."

"When you think of Bryce Harper, you consider him an elite player, right? One of the top ten players today. But I don’t believe he still fits into that category," Dombrowski emphasized. "Can Bryce elevate himself back to that level? Honestly, I don’t know."

Responding to these remarks, Harper spoke to Matt Gelb of The Athletic today, expressing his disappointment. He said, "Every player gets injured; this year my wrist was hurt and I missed a month. I obviously know I didn’t have a full season’s stats. Hearing my contribution to the team being questioned is really disappointing and painful because I love Philadelphia so much."

After Dombrowski’s comments, rumors began circulating that the Phillies might trade Harper. Harper said, "From the start, I’ve given everything for Philadelphia, and now people are talking about trading me? I’ve done everything possible to prevent that. When I was in Washington (Nationals), I heard those rumors too. It’s unpleasant and makes me uncomfortable."

Recently, in a podcast interview, Dombrowski denied the trade rumors about Harper: "Now I’m seeing people say 'the Phillies might trade Bryce Harper,' and that’s completely untrue. We love him; we think he’s a great player and a vital part of the team. I’ve seen him perform better before, and I look forward to seeing him do so again."