he Atlanta Braves came into the season with some incredibly high expectations. They were one of the favorites in the National League, but during the first half of the season, they were one of the worst teams in baseball.

Because of this, the Braves will likely end up as sellers in the coming weeks. They have a few talented players they could look to cut ties with this month with some of their expiring players making sense as trade chips.

FanSided’s Cody Williams recently predicted the Braves would cut ties with expiring reliever Pierce Johnson in a massive trade ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.

“One of the prevailing rumors around the Braves’ trade deadline plans is that the other consideration they’d made beyond expiring contracts would be players who only have one year left on their deal, specifically in the bullpen,” Williams wrote. “Reading between the lines, that means that Atlanta could be keen on trading away either Aaron Bummer or Pierce Johnson.

“My read, however, is that the Braves will only deal one of the pair, and Johnson seems the far better option for Atlanta to part with. Put simply, Johnson is the more coveted commodity on a craven reliever market at the trade deadline.”

Trading Johnson feels like an obvious move for the Braves to make. He’s been incredible this season, but it hasn’t carried the Braves to enough wins to compete.

The righty is on an expiring contract, so it’s likely he ends up signing elsewhere in free agency at the end of the year.

He’s been impressive enough this season that he would likely net a solid return for the Braves. Relievers are often the most sought-after assets on the trade market, so a deal like this would make sense. Nearly every contender would vie for his services in the coming weeks.