NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Mets were bracing for the worst Tuesday, but finally exhaled when the news broke Chris Sale was headed to the Red Sox.

Indications earlier in the day were the stud lefty might be dealt from the White Sox to the Nationals, giving the Mets’ chief division rival another elite arm in the rotation to join Max Scherzer.

“I really thought for sure [Sale] was going to end up in Washington,” manager Terry Collins said. “We dodged a bullet.”

But general manager Sandy Alderson was more philosophical.

“If he ended up in our division we would have had to deal with it, but it didn’t happen,” Alderson said. “But guess what, somebody else will end up in our division, so we’ll have to deal with that.”