In 2017 the Cubs made a move at the trade deadline for catching depth and a reliever that Al would later write up as one of the 10 worst moves of the decade for the Chicago Cubs, sending MLB ready third baseman Jeimer Candelario and prospect Isaac Paredes to the Detroit Tigers for Alex Avila and Justin Wilson. As Al wrote in 2019:
Theo & Co. were quite busy in the summer of 2017 trying to squeeze out another World Series title. It didn’t work. Avila was competent for the Cubs, then left via free agency for the Diamondbacks, for whom he was mediocre for two years.