PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Byrce Harper publicly challenged team president Dave Dombrowski to upgrade the roster if the Philadelphia Phillies were serious about contending for a World Series title.
A night before the trade deadline, Harper went from calling out Dombrowski to texting him, noting he would move from first base back to right field if it helped upgrade the lineup.
Harper is indeed now the Phillies right fielder — just for the remainder of this
season — after Dombrowski swung a deal Monday for three-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants.
“I think any chance that we have an opportunity to win, I'd do anything for this organization," Harper said ahead of Monday's game against Washington. “They know that.”
Arraez is the proven bat Philadelphia’s lineup needed in its chase for a fifth straight trip to the playoffs and first World Series championship since 2008.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said Arraez will play second base, triggering a defensive shuffle that switched up the corner positions.
Bryson Stott will move from second base to third, and third baseman Alec Bohm will shift to first, where Harper has played since returning from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in 2023.
The 33-year-old Harper long-tossed in the outfield before Monday's game and conceded there would be an adjustment in the position shift.
“I think it's probably just more of the arm-care stuff,” Harper said. “Maybe a little of the bit of the legs, as well. At 33 right now, this is the best I've felt in a long time. I feel healthy, I feel strong. Obviously, may need to get my arm going a little bit more. You don't show too much arm strength at first base."
Mattingly said there was never a consideration to moving shaky shortstop Trea Turner, who has 18 errors this season, to the outfield.
Mattingly, 50-34 with the Phillies since he replaced Rob Thomson in April, also wanted assurances from Harper he was on board with leaving first base.
“He just came up to me and said, ‘Hey, are you serious?’ I said, ‘yeah,’” Harper said.
Harper, a former catcher who spent the bulk of his career in Washington and Philadelphia as an outfielder, brought his outfielder's glove with him on last week's trip to Miami, just in case it was needed. The Phillies lost eight of nine games after the All-Star break before winning two straight over the weekend in Baltimore.
In Miami, Harper was blunt on the Phillies' chances, saying “I think we need some help.”
All he had to do was change positions for the Phillies to add reinforcements.
Harper added he “loves” first base and the move is “something I'm doing just for the team.”
“I don't have to do that," Harper said. “Hopefully it helps. I think it's helped us obviously get the guy that we need.”
Arraez is batting a National League-best .324 with four homers and 47 RBIs with an .801 OPS. He’s a four-time All-Star and, of importance in the free-swinging Phillies lineup, is a contact hitter who rarely strikes out.
He has struck out just 236 times over his eight-year career.
Arraez has 25 walks to 21 strikeouts this season. The Phillies .304 on-base is second worst in the majors, only ahead of the New York Mets.
Arraez is eligible for free agency at the end of the season and has played for five teams in the last five seasons. He played in the All-Star Game last month in Philadelphia.
The Phillies also acquired right-hander reliever Caleb Kilian in the trade in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair.
The Giants are 47-65 and have been of baseball’s bigger disappointments.
The Phillies struck a separate deal for Mets left-hander Brooks Raley in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Luke Gabrysh and minor league outfielder John Spikerman. They also sent out righty reliever Nolan Hoffman to Kansas City for minor league righty Manuel Colón, a move that opened a spot on the 40-man roster.
Raley has a 5-5 record with a 1.96 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 45 games. His 1.96 ERA is tied for the fourth-lowest mark in the majors among left-handed relievers and 35 appearances this season have been scoreless.
The Phillies entered Monday’s game against Washington at 59-53 and hold one of the final NL wild-card spots. They are eight games back of Atlanta in the NL East.
Arreaz led the National League in hits the past two seasons and had signed a $12 million, one-year contract this season with the Giants. He spent his first five major league seasons with the Minnesota Twins before they traded him to the Miami Marlins in January 2023. San Diego acquired him in May 2024.
Stott, who blossomed into a Gold Glove candidate, echoed Harper's comments and said he was fine with heading to third base.
“It should be not lost that our superstar first baseman, two-time MVP is willing to move,” Stott said. “When you're on a team and you see a guy like that, what we are going to say, no, we're not moving?”
Dombrowski came out swinging with deals that — while not at the level of the Dodgers trading for Tarik Skubal — showed the Phillies are serious about staying in the playoff hunt and making a World Series push in October.
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