UPDATE: Plane Supposedly With Shohei Ohtani On It Actually Carried Shark Tank Star
After hours of wild speculation, the Shohei Ohtani circus is still in session.
Friday morning and afternoon turned into the Wild West on baseball Twitter (baseball X?), thanks to a private plane scheduled to fly from Orange County, California to Toronto, unconfirmed reports from several baseball writers that Ohtani's decision was "imminent," and another that it had already been made.
And that's the short version.
READ: WHAT IN THE SHOHEI OHTANI IS HAPPENING? PLANE TRACKERS, BLUE JAYS?
Much of the speculation revolved around insinuations that Ohtani would be on that plane, flying from near his home in Newport Beach to Toronto to either meet with the Blue Jays or officially sign his new deal. But outside of Jon Morosi, no other major national baseball writers had confirmed he was on the plane.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation even sent a photographer down to the airport in Toronto to be there when the plane landed. Hoping to score the first glimpse of Ohtani's triumphant entrance into the city.
Except he wasn't actually on the plane.
One by one, reports contradicted Morosi's claim. Bob Nightengale posted late Friday afternoon that far from being in Canada, Ohtani was at home in Southern California.
Jon Heyman and Jim Bowden confirmed it. A local Toronto sportswriter also said Ohtani was still at home. Jeff Passan announced another trade by describing it as "real baseball news." And then the funniest of all things, the CBC found out the plane was actually carrying a random Canadian businessman, Robert Herjavec.
Herjavec, in case you were wondering, founded one of the largest information technology and computer security companies in Canada, according to his Wikipedia page. He's also appeared on Shark Tank, both the U.S. and Australian versions. Not Shohei Ohtani.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels looks on during the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on August 16. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Shohei Ohtani Decision Still Forthcoming
Despite absolutely nothing happening, Friday represented one of the wildest days in baseball free agency history.
On the one hand, there's still a chance Ohtani signs with the Blue Jays, as one local Dodgers writer claimed via "sources." On the other hand, absolutely nothing actually happened, no news broke, no reputable national writer reported that Ohtani had made his choice. And yet speculation over the plane led to thousands of people tracking it for over five hours across the country.
You can't make it up.
Outside of the one report from Dodgers Nation, no one has made any definitive claims or statements on what Ohtani's next move will be. Given how he seems to enjoy defying expectations and convention, maybe all the scuttlebutt over the supposed Toronto choice will move him in the opposite direction.
Friday's been a real roller coaster of emotions for Blue Jays and Dodgers fans, and unfortunately it seems like there's no end in sight.