During his season-ending press conference on Thursday, Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that Bryce Harper will remain at first base for the club. This effectively ends Harper’s dream of the organization potentially signing free agent Pete Alonso.
Alonso was a free agent last winter and signed a two-year, $54 million deal to return to the New York Mets. The contract included an opt-out after this season and he’s returning to free agency aiming to secure a long-term deal. It does not appear it will be with the Phillies.
Phillies won’t be moving Bryce Harper off first base to sign Pete Alonso
During spring training, Harper revealed he would be open to moving back to playing in the outfield (subscription required) if the team made a blockbuster free agent addition and signed a player like Alonso, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
“I talked to [the Phillies] this offseason about that, just in case a guy was available [at first] that we needed to have, needed to get,” Harper said back in March, per Rosenthal. “I’d be more than open to it if we had a guy like that, who was going to change our lineup or change the demeanor of our team. They like me at first base. But I’d go out there to have a guy who was going to play first base and hit 35 or 40 homers.”
Harper didn’t specifically mention Alonso by name, but the implication was obviously there.
Now, with free agency around the corner and Alonso heading back on the market, Dombrowski was again asked about Harper being moved back to the outfield on Thursday.
“Bryce is a first baseman … ,” Dombrowski said, quickly shutting down any thoughts of the position switch. “He’s a really good first baseman and for us that’s the position we look at him playing for us.”
While intriguing, adding Alonso always seemed like a pipe dream. Harper has transitioned to first base quite well since the 2023 season. The only way the Phillies could have any interest in signing Alonso would be if Schwarber signed with another team this winter.
Even if Schwarber were not to return to the Phillies, the front office may decide to sign another hitter in free agency besides Alonso, or he may have agreed to a contract with another franchise and no longer be a free agent.
Dombrowski also spoke about the team’s payroll, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, which would be another hindrance to adding multiple large contracts.
“[Owner] John [Middleton] is very supportive of that,” Dombrowski said on Thursday, per Zolecki. “We have a good club with a lot of good players, but you don’t have unlimited [money] … I don’t think we’re going to have a $400 million payroll. I just don’t think that that’s a practicality, but we will be open minded to get better and make a move.”
That raises some questions about how many big free agent additions, if any, will be made this offseason. Regardless, Alonso does not appear to be on the Phillies’ radar and never may have been despite Harper’s interest in wanting them to add the home run slugger.
