The Cubs made their first sell of the All-Star break by trading Joc Pederson to the Atlanta Braves.

Pederson has a triple slash line of .230/.300/.418 through 287 plate appearances with a 95 wRC+. He signed a one-year deal with the Cubs in the offseason.

Trading for Pederson addresses the Braves’ need for outfield help after Ronald Acuna tore his ACL last week and Marcell Ozuna suffered a hand injury and was also arrested for domestic violence. Pederson is just a drop in the pond in terms of being a replacement to Acuña, though, but it seemed like a necessary move to make.

Pederson is typically a platoon player, with 77 percent of his plate appearances this year coming against righties this season and over 83 percent for his career, but he’ll likely find a bulk of the playing time in the Braves’ outfield now. They had a starting outfield of Ehire Adrianza, Guillermo Heredia and Orlando Arcia with Ender Inciarte on the bench in the game before the break.

The Braves, who are just four games behind the Mets in the NL East heading into the second half, will likely make more moves unless the team tanks before the July 30 trade deadline.

ESPN‘s Jeff Passan also reported Thursday night that both the Nationals and Phillies see themselves as buyers heading into the second half, largely because the Mets haven’t expanded their lead in the division while the rest of the NL East has struggled. (A personal plug: this is something I’ve been writing about in the 3 Up, 3 Down segments for a couple weeks now.)

The Cubs, on the other hand, got the Braves’ No. 12 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline) Bryce Ball in return for Pederson, whose contract expires at the end of the year, unless both Pederson and the Braves pick up his $10 million option for 2022.

Hall is a 23-year-old first baseman currently playing in High-A. MLB Pipeline describes the 6’8″ Ball as an extreme power hitter whose power will likely translate to the majors. The rest of his game, from his defense to consistent plate discipline, is up in the air.

On the Mets end of things, they’ve been connected to Jose Berrios (thanks to Jeremy Hefner) and Josh Donaldson of the Twins in the trade market. There are still two weeks until the deadline, though, so there is plenty of time for the hot stove to percolate.