Max Scherzer didn’t imagine that he’d end up being traded going into the 2023 season, and it would have been almost unfathomable to envision the Mets selling at the trade deadline.

Fast forward to a few days before the Aug. 1 deadline, and Scherzer started to feel things shift.

That’s when he began to get the idea that he could be sent elsewhere, the 39-year-old explained during a Thursday appearance on “Foul Territory.”

Scherzer was traded on July 29 to the Rangers in exchange for prospect Luisangel Acuna

“I didn’t think I was getting traded,” Scherzer said, adding that he expected some of the team’s pending free agents could get dealt at the trade deadline.

“It was a couple of days before the deadline, all of a sudden, a couple of guys across the league who reaching out to me, saying, ‘Would you come to this team? Would you waive your no-trade clause for us?’ That’s when something became peculiar to me. I figured the Mets were going to sell off the impending free agents.

“Now all of a sudden there’s trade offers for myself, there’s something going on here. I didn’t want to get blindsided by a trade so you gotta get in front of those things. That’s how I knew something was really up.”

The former Mets pitcher revealed there were other teams that had come knocking for his services, but Texas was the only one that made sense for him and his family in the long run. 

Even as Scherzer has settled into life as a Texas Ranger, he lamented what could have been with the Mets this season and his thankfulness to owner Steven Cohen for his candor with him as they approached the trade deadline.

As the Mets started to sell off pieces of the roster in order to change the course of the franchise, Scherzer met with Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler. 

“I was thankful. They were very honest, very (forthcoming),” Scherzer said. “It became obvious which way the team was gonna go and the best decisions for everyone involved. … You signed up there to win and you really thought we’d have a chance to win there. Obviously, we didn’t and that’s what stinks.”

Scherzer has started twice for the Rangers since the trade, picking up wins in both. 

Texas sits atop the American League West and had a seven-game winning streak snapped Wednesday by the Oakland Athletics. 

The Rangers’ success this season has certainly put them in the conversation for making a run in the postseason. 

It’s what many had expected Scherzer’s now-former team to do after spending a historic $400 million to build the 2023 team.

But the right-hander gave Cohen credit for going out to “put himself out there.” 

“You signed up there to win and you really thought you’d have a chance to win there and didn’t and it stinks. [Cohen] really went after it and tried to build a winning team,” Scherzer said. “We had that vision. Every player thought that we were on a team that was going to be able to go deep in the postseason. We won 100 ballgames last year. Everything was telling you things were turning up in New York.

“There’s other owners that don’t do that, come up short when the team needs it. That’s frustrating as a player because you feel like you’re so close to being able to do something great for the organization.

“You’re there and a lot of owners sometimes they don’t, so I was very fortunate to be a part of the Mets.”

He finished his Mets career with a 20-9 record and 3.02 ERA in 42 regular-season starts.

The veteran was shelled for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings during his one playoff start with the Amazin’s last year.