My friends at the OJ blog like to deride me about the “business of baseball.” And in this case, the news is bitter sweet. The Angels have informed the city of Anaheim that they are opting out of their lease. There have a number of options including playing home games at Dodger Stadium, as they have done before, or seeking a new location in SoCal. They are not likely to get public financing for a new stadium, but the site in Carson previously approved for a football stadium for the Chargers and Raiders appears to be a possible spot.
Here’s the story from the LA Times:
Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey said the decision to opt out was not meant to influence voters. She said the lease required the team to opt out no later than Tuesday or wait until 2028 for another chance to do so.
“It’s today, or 10 years from now,” Garvey said. “There’s no option in between.”
Garvey would not say whether remaining in Anaheim was the Angels’ first choice.
The Angels ended negotiations with Anaheim in 2014, then revived them briefly in 2016. They explored options for new ballparks in Los Angeles, Carson and Irvine, but prioritized a proposal for a new stadium in Tustin because of its proximity to their current home and fan base.
The sides are believed to have focused on a stadium that would have seated about 37,000 and cost about $700 million. Tustin officials said then that they would not provide taxpayer funding for stadium construction.
Moreno said last year that the team would play at Angel Stadium until the lease ends in 2029.
“We look forward to many great years of Angels baseball in Anaheim,” the city statement said. “We don’t believe there is a better place for the team than in the heart of Orange County’s most exciting city.…
“As fun as baseball is in Anaheim, this is a reminder that this is still a business. And we understand that the Angels need to preserve all options available. We welcome talking with the team about the future of baseball in Anaheim.”
By exercising the opt-out clause, the Angels can leave Angel Stadium after the 2019 season. The city and team would have to negotiate what might happen beyond next season.
O brother what a load.
The LA Angels are just keeping their options open to apply more pressure, pressure that only a fool or a bought-and-paid-for tool would go for.
Of course they are hoping the pud Brandman and the grinning idiot Sidhu get back in: both fools and both bought off.
Or perhaps they have identified another site and have lined up financing for a new stadium. There’s the site in Carson where a stadium’s environmental work was approved for the football stadium the Raiders/Chargers were supposed to move to before the Rams lured the Chargers and Vegas scored the Raiders. If the Angels do leave Anaheim and OC, it’s all on Tait.
Haha. Yes, and perhaps pigs will grow wings someday.
Man, you’re dumb.
And JUUUST COINCIDENTALLY three weeks before the election. Ever get the feeling you’re being played, Anaheim?
You know what this means, don’t you?
The LAS VEGAS Angels. (Maybe’ll they’ll change their name to the Las Vegas DEVILS.)
Yeah right, just when ballots are going out.
Ever get the feeling you’re being played, Anaheim?
My feeling Carson is unlikely – it’s rather far from both LA and Orange County. Irvine’s out – hardly any land left and residents wouldn’t put up with the traffic. I’d really, really like them to stay in Orange County. But if that doesn’t happen, I would think reviving the Farmers Field proposal, adjacent to Staples Center in DTLA, could be intriguing.
It’s also super close to Long Beach; there’s space there. Some infrastructure work would need to be done but let’s see how negotiations go with the team and Anaheim. The Angels contribute millions of dollars to Anaheim charities. I’d hate to see that money leave OC.
I Can’t believe this blog supports the Angels taking the citizens of Anaheim hostage. Might as well rebrand it theCORPORATECONVERVATIVEOC
I Can’t believe this blog supports the Angels taking the citizens of Anaheim hostage. Might as well rebrand it theCORPORATECONVERVATIVEOC. Seriously wtf
Seems to me Arte’s out of time on relocation. At least three years to construct a new stadium in California. His long-term big dollar TV contract must lock him into Southern California.
Unless the current lease has some sort of “good-faith” negotiation provision on lease extensions, if I’m on the Council I’d simply tell the Angels “Here’s your rent for 2019 and we may or may not allow you stay beyond 2019.”
Looking at the Stadium there’s nothing wrong with the current facility. They can’t sell all the suites they currently have. And they’ll never find a better location.
On the other hand, Arte’s a billionaire and I’m not so we’ll see.
The Angels played at Dodger Stadium before; it’s not impossible to find other options. The suggestion that another team will move to Anaheim to replace the Angels in the 4th oldest stadium in the Majors is laughable. I also believe only two NFL teams have relocated to Greater Los Angeles despite what you might read elsewhere. Yep, it’ll take 3 years at least to build something new.
Dream on, knucklehead. Your business of baseball is dead, except maybe in crackerville where nobody knows up from down. Arte screwed his Dodger pooch when he tried to poach their Mexi fan base. The Angels will be in Anaheim for a long, long time. Hopefully we will get a city council that makes Moreno fulfill his lease obligations.
Fenway Park is over a hundred and so is Wrigley and no on in Chi or Boston is complaining.
God you’re ignorant.
Both parks in Chicago and Boston are in the middle of neighborhoods and have undergone tremendous transformation while retaining all their traditions. Angels Stadium is not either of those. It’s not the best fan experience in the majors. Dodgers have new ownership since Arte took over and green is a color they love. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they co-located for a couple of years. And the Angels don’t have the sweetest lease deal in baseball. That crown belongs to the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves. No team is moving here to play in a super old stadium
There was a deadline to act. And the Angels did. Let’s get the team and the city back to the bargaining table with a new mayor and city council and let’s see what happens
A new mayor? Like the bobblehead doll Galloway? With her multiple bankruptcies and scam charity she’d be perfect, huh? Fortunately she couldn’t beat a drum but just might be able to beat that Rudy Gaona guy.
A scam charity? No it isn’t. I’ve purchased 8 mattresses for the kids at her shelter over the years and arranged for friends to buy six more. These are battered families. I’m sorry you don’t see the good she does
So because you bought into her scam it can’t be a scam.
Got it.
Jesus told her to run for mayor. That should tell you all you need to know about Ms. Mani-Ped.
P.S. Only a fool would brag about buying mattresses. That just sounds creepy.
I was helping children in her shelter. If you think I’m a fool for that, go right ahead
Jesus, you’re a simpleton.
Those mattresses were resold out of the fake thrift store.
Get a clue, dummy.
Have you been to the store? I have. Several times. Never see any new mattresses for sale. Maybe you can pony up some dough and buy one for a kid who needs a sense of normalcy when he mom flees the House with only the clothes they are wearing? Keep insulting me. It’s not working
I will end by saying only a moron would fall for St. Lorri’s Fake Miracle Show.
And that’s what you are. An idiot.
Fenway’s special…Felt so close to the field, and I was several rows back. Wrigley’s historic & the fans love it. The stadium in Oakland? That’s an example of old & run down! Angels stadium…I feel it’s nice. Broad walkway all around the stadium – especially good for hanging out in the outfield. Looks great on TV w/the waterfall in the background. Sure, it’s not a lovely urban stadium like Petco Park in San Diego. Maybe Anaheim should lower the rent and bring in a Disney team or the like to liven it up.
I have been a fan of the Angels basically since birth as my father trained with them during spring training one year as a right fielder. He didn’t make the cut but became a diehard fan no matter how poorly they did.
What disturbs me about this are two things – since the team won the World Series in 2002 (great series!), fans have had a lot of expectations about them continuing that run, but now – 16 years later – they have only reached the playoffs a handful of times, and never advanced. The winning players from that ’02 team were split up – to the Yankees, St Louis, White Sox, wherever they could go. Splitting up the team was a poor ownership/management decision. And they got rid of Socia, one of the best coaches they had ever had.
Secondly, the owner is acting like they’re still the defending World Series champs, but that title is almost two decades old. Not to mention the constant name changes – California Angels, Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, to what? If the organization leaves Orange Country, I can guarantee that they will leave most of their fan base since Californians like people and teams that are loyal. The owner may want a sweetheart deal, but unless the fan base is there, there is no reason for moving the Angels.
My family and the hundreds of long-time fans I know that I frequently went to games with – objected to the most recent name change – the team isn’t even in Los Angeles County. And despite the owner’s belief that it would boost ticket sales, none of the regular fans I went to games with before that change had gone to any of the games since then, including me. If the team moves, it will change names again, and its fan base will never forgive it for going even as far as Dodger Stadium when Edison Field was built just for them. Even my father, who was at the team’s very first spring training and has followed the team since the first pitch of the first game would be devastated if the team moved out.
Surely a compromise can be reached. Yes, Edison Field draws a lot of sports fans during baseball season (and they’d be pulling in more fans since it’s an established market). But if the team’s owner moves the Angels out of Orange County, they will not only have to attract an entirely new market but. They would likely lose much – if not most – of their current one. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of property large enough to accommodate the stadium and parking within Orange Country. It’s all about give and take – give a little to get a little, rather than demand it all and get nothing!
I have been a fan of the Angels basically since birth as my father trained with them during spring training their inaugural year as a right fielder. He didn’t make the cut but became a diehard fan no matter how poorly they did.
What disturbs me about this are two things – since the team won the World Series in 2002 (great series!), fans have had a lot of expectations about them continuing that run, but now – 16 years later – they have only reached the playoffs a handful of times, and never advanced. The winning players from that ’02 team were split up – to the Yankees, St Louis, White Sox, wherever they could go. Splitting up the team was a poor ownership/management decision. And they got rid of Socia, one of the best coaches they had ever had.
Secondly, the owner is acting like they’re still the defending World Series champs, but that title is almost two decades old. Not to mention the constant name changes – California Angels, Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, to what? If the organization leaves Orange Country, I can guarantee that they will leave most of their fan base since Californians like people and teams that are loyal. The owner may want a sweetheart deal, but unless the fan base is there, there is no reason for moving the Angels.
My family and the hundreds of long-time fans I know that I frequently went to games with – objected to the most recent name change – the team isn’t even in Los Angeles County. And despite the owner’s belief that it would boost ticket sales, none of the regular fans I went to games with before that change had gone to any of the games since then, including me. If the team moves, it will change names again, and its fan base will never forgive it for going even as far as Dodger Stadium when Edison Field was built just for them. Even my father, who has followed the team since the first pitch of the first game, would be devastated if the team moved out.
Surely a compromise can be reached. Yes, Edison Field draws a lot of sports fans during baseball season (and they’d be pulling in more fans since it’s an established market). But if the team’s owner moves the Angels out of Orange County, they will not only have to attract an entirely new market but they would likely lose much – if not most – of their current one. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of property large enough to accommodate the stadium and parking within Orange Country. It’s all about give and take – give a little to get a little, rather than demand it all and get nothing!