It's only been one week after the trade deadline and the Los Angeles Angels could already be regretting their decision to keep dual-threat superstar Shohei Ohtani. Can the Halos do the unthinkable and somehow salvage this slump, proving that owner Arte Moreno and general manager Perry Minasian made the right choice? With less than two months left in the regular season, the clock is ticking with the window for opportunity growing narrower.

The Angels have been slumping since the trade deadline

Since the trade deadline, the Angels are 0-7 and 11-12 since after the All-Star break. They're 11.5 games back of first place in the AL West, making clinching the division title almost impossible at this point, especially given the moves made by the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros at the trade deadline. That's a two-team race now. The Angels are also eight games back of the third place Wild Card spot, which is currently held by the Toronto Blue Jays, who have been one of the best teams in baseball since the All-Star break. Above them, the Astros and Tampa Bay Rays, both almost for sure locks for either the Wild Card or division title, with their divisional foes in the Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles gaining the other.

So where does this leave the Angels? Purgatory seems like a fitting answer because they're not good but they're not bad either. But they're bad enough to not make the postseason for the ninth consecutive season, thus keeping Ohtani out of the playoffs, and Mike Trout for that matter.

The Angels should have traded Ohtani

Even though it's just seven games, those seven games mean a lot later in the season, especially as teams are trying to make a surge to get in the playoffs. Every game and every series means that much more as you get closer to October, which the Angels have no experience in.

As commending as it was that Moreno and Minasian wanted to show its fans that they were eager to win and put a formidable team on the field and to get Ohtani in the playoffs, hoping for some more of the magic he's possessed all season — that seems to be all in vain as the season plays on. Because as good as Ohtani is and has been this season, he's still just one great player, where the Angels need a whole heap of great players.

In the last seven games, the Angels have the fifth worst ERA in the league at 6.39, giving up 66 hits and 44 earned runs, while tying for first in walks at 33. Offensively, they're towards the bottom of the league, batting just .218, slugging .345, with 52 hits on just 23 runs. The Angels have just three players during those seven games that are hitting above this year's league average of .248 in Ohtani (.360), Mike Moustakas (.280) and Luis Rengifo (.259).

The Angels can't or won't survive with this team this season, which makes next season and beyond look bleak in Anaheim. If Ohtani is wanting to play for a winner, the Angels have given him no reason to make him re-sign with them this winter. Even if the Angels fork out the largest, longest contract in MLB history — something they've done similar to before with others — it only accentuates their problems instead of alleviating them.

The Angels trade deadline moves haven't produced

Watching the Angels make the bold move at the deadline in not only keeping Ohtani but also acquiring Luis Giolito, CJ Cron and Randal Grichuk was admirable. So far, though, these trades have proven less than profitable, according to Matt Snyder at CBS Sports.

Giolito finds himself in a perplexing 0-2 rut, grappling with a staggering 12.00 ERA across two starts. Meanwhile, C.J. Cron's bat appears to still be left in Colorado as he posts a lackluster .207/.281/.207 slash line, void of any extra base hits. Grichuk's plate appearances have been less than stellar as well, batting .233 with two home runs, while striking out 11 times in just 30 at-bats.

It has to be damning to watch if you're an Angels fan — or Angels' management for that matter. The Angels proved they were willing to make sacrifices to win, went out and got some needed acquirements. But it goes to show you who the best managed teams are in the league when the Angels division rivals in the Astros and Rangers — who are better organizations top to bottom with sustainable farm systems to make heavy trades like they did — outduel you in a single motion.

The Angels were one-upped by their competition and now they are suffering yet again. The result will be like most thought: without a trip to the postseason and without Ohtani next season.