If you had asked Anthony Rizzo on the morning of July 29, 2021, there was no doubt about where he wanted to be. So, when he was traded later in the day, it led to a moment of disbelief.

“I definitely didn’t think I was getting traded,” Rizzo said before his first game back at Wrigley Field on Friday. “So, when it happened, it was definitely a shock. And just processing the emotions — I had my parents here, [wife] Emily, here, [dog] Kevin was running around on the outfield — just to kind of take that all in and process getting traded to the Yankees.”

Yet three years later, the emotions feel vastly different.

“I mean, yeah, in hindsight,” Rizzo answered when asked if the trade was the best thing for him. “Obviously, if you asked me before I got traded, there’s no way I would ever want to end anywhere else but in Chicago.

“But getting traded has taught me so much about life in general and has helped me grow just as an individual and to play with the Yankees.”

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As he sat in the visitor’s dugout at Wrigley Field answering questions from a media contingent he had grown to know in his 10 years in Chicago, the juxtaposition between him and his old team couldn’t be more obvious.

The Cubs have just a 1.2% chance (per FanGraphs) of making the playoffs after a 3-0 defeat to Rizzo’s Yankees on Friday. They’re staring at another season without a postseason appearance — and they haven’t played in a playoff game since Rizzo was on the team.

Rizzo, meanwhile, is gearing up for another postseason appearance — it would be his third in four seasons with the Yankees.

“Before I left, we turned the franchise from lovable losers to expected winners,” Rizzo said. “I don’t know what that expectation is [in Chicago] anymore, because I’m removed, but I know in New York, the expectation is to win every day that brings the best out of you, that makes you really check yourself in the mirror every single day and bring it.”

The Cubs might’ve found their replacement for Rizzo at first base in Michael Busch — but they’re still trying to find the heights as a team that existed when Rizzo was here.

“Clearly, this was a guy that we had talked to about staying here for a long time because of what he meant to the organization and I don’t think any of those emotions are gone,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “I think that what happened, happened. He went there. He’s been happy there. He’s had a good run in New York.

“Obviously, I’m thrilled that Michael Busch is our first baseman. I think baseball changes. Names and people change.”