The Angels may be forced to change their name

After spending much of the 2000s chasing a World Series title—and even winning it in 2002—the Los Angeles Angels organization is currently one of the worst franchises in all of Major League Baseball. And it has only itself to blame, as poor decisions have been piling up one after another for quite some time.

And to add insult to injury, the Angels may now have to adopt a new name if a bill becomes law in the state of California.

According to Josh Koehn of the California Post, Avelino Valencia, a member of the 68th District of the California State Assembly, has introduced a new bill, AB 2512, which would force the team to revert to the name “Anaheim Angels” in official and marketing materials.

Anaheim is a world-class city, and I've seen it with my own eyes growing up here. The pride our residents take in their city is real and well-deserved. My community has rallied behind the Angels franchise year after year, and it deserves better than to be treated as an afterthought. It's time for the name of our local MLB team to reflect the city where it plays.

The bill passed the Assembly this week with unanimous support and now heads to the State Senate.

Angels could lose ‘Los Angeles' in team name with new bill https://t.co/MKuup0m41z pic.twitter.com/1GaOz9nFGO

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 20, 2026

This would mark yet another name change for the baseball club, which was known as the “Los Angeles Angels” from 1961 (the inaugural season) through 1965. Then, from 1965 to 1996, it was known as the “California Angels,” and subsequently as the “Anaheim Angels” from 1997 to 2004.

The team's controversial owner, Arte Moreno, subsequently renamed the club the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” in 2005, before shortening it to “Los Angeles Angels” in 2016.

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