In Anaheim and Sacramento, a two-front challenge to the Angels' Los Angeles name

Fans enter Angels Stadium before a baseball game between the Angels and the Houston Astros in April 2022. (Ashley Landis / Associated Press) Two decades after owner Arte Moreno decided the Angels should play under the Los Angeles name, elected officials representing Anaheim are pursuing two paths toward getting their hometown back into the team name. Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, whose district includes Angel Stadium, has introduced state legislation that could require any sale or new lease of the stadium property be conditioned upon the team reverting to the Anaheim Angels name.

Meanwhile, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has asked the city attorney to explore whether the Angels have violated their current lease by dropping the Anaheim name from legal documents. Valencia’s bill — dubbed the “Home Run for Anaheim Act” — aims to mandate what the city of Anaheim could not negotiate in its ill-fated deal with Moreno in 2019: If a team owner wants to develop the parking lots around the city stadium, the team should carry the city’s name. Read more: Angels, with longest playoff drought in MLB, turn to first-time manager Kurt Suzuki “The Angels have been supported by the city and its residents for 60 years,” Valencia said.

“I think it’s rightfully owed to the residents that, if the team wants to play in Anaheim and be in partnership with Anaheim when it comes to future developments of that stadium and surrounding property, then the name should also resemble that. ” Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey said the team had no comment. The Angels’ current stadium lease extends through 2032 , with the team holding options to extend the lease through 2038.

The city and team had agreed on a deal in which the Angels would remain in Anaheim through 2050 , with the team buying the 150-acre stadium property for $150 million, renovating or replacing the stadium, and building a ballpark village atop the parking lots. The state objected, however. The Surplus Land Act requires public property up for sale must first be made available for affordable housing, and the city negotiated only with the Angels.