Phillies

Bryce Harper Reportedly Told Rob Manfred to “Get the Fuck Out of Our Clubhouse” if He Wanted to Talk About Salary Cap

By Kyle Pagan

Published: Jul 28th, 2025 · 1:10 PM EDT

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I don’t know where I sit on a potential salary cap for baseball, but I do know one thing, and that is if you tell Rob Manfred to get the fuck out of your clubhouse you’re going to win a ton of supporters. That’s what Bryce Harper did apparently when Manfred was in the Phillies locker room last week, according to Jeff Passan at ESPN:

Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper stood nose to nose with Rob Manfred during a meeting between the Major League Baseball commissioner and the team last week, telling him to “get the f— out of our clubhouse” if Manfred wanted to talk about the potential implementation of a salary cap, sources familiar with the meeting told ESPN on Monday.

The confrontation came in a meeting — one of the 30 that Manfred conducts annually in an effort to improve his relations with every team’s players — that lasted more than an hour. While Manfred never explicitly said the words “salary cap,” sources said, the discussion about the game’s economics raised the ire of Harper, one of MLB’s most influential players and a two-time National League MVP.

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Quiet for the majority of the meeting, Harper, sitting in a chair and holding a bat, eventually grew frustrated and said if MLB were to propose a cap and hold firm to it, players “are not scared to lose 162 games,” sources in the meeting told ESPN. Harper stood up, walked toward the middle of the room, faced up to Manfred and said: “If you want to speak about that, you can get the f— out of our clubhouse.”

Manfred, sources said, responded that he was “not going to get the f— out of here,” saying it was important to talk about threats to MLB’s business and ways to grow the game.

DAMN! It’s gonna be awkward when Manfred hands over the World Series MVP trophy to Harper in November.

I imagine Harper holding that bat like MJ in the locker room during “The Last Dance” doc just staring daggers through Manfred, but instead of thinking about BJ Armstrong, Harper was thinking about taking a 34-inch maple Victus over the Commish’s head. I love pacifist Castey coming out of nowhere to defuse the situation:

Before the situation further intensified, veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos tried to defuse the tension, saying: “I have more questions.” The meeting continued, and Harper and Manfred eventually shook hands, sources said, though Harper declined to answer phone calls from Manfred the next day.

You know things are tense if Castellanos is the person that is needed to lighten the mood. That guy has been a part of plenty memorable moments in the clubhouse and doesn’t care if you don’t like him speaking his mind: