The Los Angeles Angels could be moving out of Anaheim.
In a letter to the city of Anaheim Friday, the Angels said that after 12 months of negotiations over a renewed lease on the baseball team’s existing stadium, it was time to move on because the team and the city were unable to reach an agreement.
Last year, the city approved a tentative offer that would have given Angels owner Arte Moreno 150 acres of parking lot to develop for a $1-per-year lease in exchange for the Angels paying $150 million to refurbish Angels Stadium. The 45,000 seat stadium has not been upgraded in 20 years.
“It’s one of the older parks as far as baseball goes,” Angels fan Doug Navarette said. “There are a lot of brand new parks out there so it’d be nice to see it even better.”
Some fans fear that if the city and the team do not reach an agreement, the team’s fate could be similar to that of its crosstown rivals. Moreno says the team can afford to build a new stadium, according to an Associated Press report.
“In the case of the Dodgers, we all know what happened. They wouldn’t give (Walter O’Malley) his property, they wouldn’t give him a stadium, he ended up moving out here to LA,” Angels fan Marcus Loya said.
The team has reportedly been in talks with the city of Tustin about a possible ballpark at what was once the Tustin Air Base.
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“Is this a location that they’d be interested in? Is this a location that works in regards to the transportation elements? That’s really where our discussions have been,” Tustin City Manager Jeffrey Parker said.
Despite the threat, there’s no guarantee that the Angels will leave Anaheim.
“All the items that were originally on the table could be back on the table. Again this is part of negotiations, its ebb and flow, that’s why the city extended the opt out agreement to 2019,” Anaheim spokesperson Ruth Ruiz said.
The Angels can opt out of their lease as early as 2016, according to an Associated Press report.
