Mark Trumbo Believes Angels’ Kurt Suzuki Has Done One Thing ‘To a Fault'

The former Angels slugger called out the first-year manager for an interesting reason

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki (8) argues with third base umpire Chris Conroy in the third inning of their game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on May 27, 2026. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Mark Trumbo played for six different managers in his MLB career, which began with the Angels in 2011 and ended with the Baltimore Orioles in 2019.

Trumbo, 40, is young enough to have played with one current Angel (Mike Trout) and against several others (Brent Suter, Donovan Walton, Adam Frazier, Kirby Yates). He's old enough that none of his six managers are still active in MLB.

At least some of those managers — Mike Scioscia, Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Lloyd McClendon, Buck Showalter and Brandon Hyde — might be considered "old school" by today's standards. But Trumbo has observed a trait that the best of them had in common that has so far eluded first-year Angels manager Kurt Suzuki.

"I think some of the best managers, at least that I played for, they weren't your friend," Trumbo said on the Halo Territory podcast. "And they might not say things that were all that flattering, but they were usually very accurate. And I think that — let's say, Mike Scioscia, Buck Showalter, for example — their resumes speak for themselves. They kind of kept everyone at arm's length. And I think that that's kind of how Terry Francona does that. And I'm assuming a lot of managers do that.”

Not Suzuki, Trumbo said.

“First and foremost, (Suzuki had an) excellent playing career," he said. "And genuinely, it seems like maybe the nicest guy you could hope to meet. And that's a great thing in life. And it really is. I'm sure the players appreciate him having their backs. And he's done it, I think, to a fault unfortunately.

"And I don't think the fault is his. I think it's just what the job requires."

If so, that's a new thing.

Ron Washington was unafraid to hold Luis Guillorme publicly responsible for his failure to execute a bunt on one occasion, and his failure to catch a line drive on another. He chided a rookie Bryce Teodosio for failing to catch a ball in center field and veteran Luis Rengifo for losing track out the outs.

The job didn't require Washington to back his players in the media unconditionally. At least, if it did, that might explain why the Angels didn't bring him back in 2026.

Suffice it to say that Suzuki, for better or worse, has taken a different approach to the task of holding players accountable for their mistakes than Washington.