Bryce Harper says no Rhys Hoskins talks happened, Devan Kaney backtracks, Howard Eskin celebrates

Last week, 94WIP’s Devan Kaney reported that sources told her Bryce Harper went to Dave Dombrowski in an effort to bring Rhys Hoskins back to the Phillies. Howard Eskin quickly shot it down, calling the report BS and labeling Kaney a dope. She fired back by calling him unemployed, and most people sided with Kaney at the time.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and the roles have flipped. Harper went on WIP and said he never discussed Hoskins with Dombrowski, which, at minimum, puts Kaney’s reporting in a tough spot.

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Her response was to double down and try to convince followers the report still held up. That’s not exactly the best move in a city where everyone walks around with a built-in bullshit detector.

Devan attempts to save her Bryce Harper report

Everyone missing the point of this story. It’s not about Rhys Hoskins. Read the first line. Now read it again.

Thanks. https://t.co/EbvW7WkRus

— Devan Kaney (@Devan_Kaney) February 24, 2026

Look, I was rooting for Devan here. She follows us, engages with our content — the whole nine yards. But you’ve got to call it like it is. The story was clearly about Rhys Hoskins. If the reporting was really about Bryce Harper advocating for more right-handed power in general, there would’ve been no reason to bring Hoskins up in the first place.

At this point, the best course of action is to just admit it didn’t land. In today’s media climate, the instinct is often to deny, deny, deny — but that approach falls flat. Any reporter who can set their ego aside and acknowledge when something misses earns respect. The job is to report facts, not to put out information and then cling to it regardless of how it holds up.

Kaney also posted a video attempting to clear the air, but it didn’t do her many favors.

Devan Kaney explains her Bryce Harper-Rhys Hoskins report pic.twitter.com/QmuQmaQN5u

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) February 24, 2026

While Devan was in damage control mode, Howard Eskin was busy taking victory laps. Not exactly how anyone wanted this to play out, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

He doubled down, called the report BS again, and then went on to say a bunch of other stuff that nobody really cares about accompanied by a picture of Bryce Harper.

#BryceHarper responded today to the BS report last week on social media about his asking #Phillies to think about bringing #RhysHoskins back.
Bryce Harper says they didn’t really talk about Rhys Hoskins this offseason.

“For us we never talked about it in camp. It kind of… pic.twitter.com/CSs65RZcC5

— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 24, 2026

It’s never great when the worst person you know ends up making a valid point. You’ve got to give this one to Howard — he won this round.

Next time, Devan.