Latest Angels’ stadium dispute has multiple doomsday scenarios for Anaheim in play

Regardless of where you land on Arte Moreno's ownership tenure, every Los Angeles Angels fan can agree that the team's relationship with the city of Anaheim has deteriorated since Moreno took over. Changing the team's name (back) to feature LA caused a flurry of conflict, which was then followed by stadium lease disputes that are still ongoing to this day.

For some, this may feel like old news. Anyone who follows the team knows that there have been problems with the city of Anaheim. However, according to an extensive column from the LA Times' Bill Shaikin, the Angels' ongoing beef with the city is anything but ancient history. Feelings are still raw and, if Shaikin is to be believed, it could lead to Anaheim and the Angels to permanently divorce.

Angels' disputes with Anaheim could very well lead to relocation elsewhere down the road

In short, things are bad. The Angels seemingly won't meet with the mayor to discuss the future of Angels baseball in the city, Anaheim is trying to get agreements nullified because of the name changes over the years, and no one seems to want to pay for the needed renovations to Angel Stadium. With the Angels' lease expiring in six years, this sounds more like what happened in Oakland than a situation that could lead to a future long-term partnership.

One interesting wrinkle to this whole situation is that the Angels COULD move anywhere in Orange County or Los Angeles County, and there is not a thing the Dodgers could do about it. Moreno has certainly floated the possibility of building a new stadium elsewhere in the past, but it is still jarring to think that it could happen. Shaikin's piece mentions Long Beach and Inglewood as potential relocation opportunities, but both come with substantial transportation and/or lot size hurdles.

What is clear is that both the Angels and Anaheim blame each other for the deterioration of the relationship. The city believes the Angels went back on their agreement to keep Anaheim in the team's name in legal filings and is looking to sue again. The Angels think the city should be more willing to help defer the costs of renovating Angels Stadium, and they also think that the rumors of future litigation were brought into the public eye to purposefully detract from the spectacle of Opening Day.

If Angels fans thought that everyone involved had moved on from these disagreements (to put it kindly), that seems foolish now. In fact, this could be the beginning of an entirely new wave of court decisions, and potentially the loss of the team from Anaheim altogether in the coming years.