Speculation runs wild as SF Giants remain in the mix for Shohei Ohtani despite false rumors

Jon Morosi of the MLB Network threw the baseball world into a frenzy on Friday morning when he reported that Shohei Ohtani's decision was imminent. He followed that up later in the day saying that Ohtani was flying to Toronto, heavily implying that the Blue Jays were his top choice. However, both rumors turned out to be false. Somehow, the SF Giants remain one of the finalists for the two-way star.

Speculation runs wild as SF Giants remain in the mix for Shohei Ohtani despite false rumors

For what it is worth, Morosi apologized on Friday night for the inaccurate report. He was not the only one in on this. J.P. Hoornstra of Dodgers Nation made a similar report suggesting that the Blue Jays were landing the two-time AL MVP.

These reports could end up being true, but unfortunately, they were premature as Ohtani has not officially made a decision as of Friday night.

Few people are privy to the negotiations. It is believed that Ohtani's inner circle includes his agent, Nez Balelo, and very few others. Ohtani's agency is CAA Sports, but it is believed that the agency is not involved in discussions outside of Balelo.

The 29-year-old star wanted to maintain a sense of privacy during his negotiations and that goal has seemingly been achieved. Few people, even baseball insiders, truly know what is going on in the process. At best, they are reading between the lines and trying to understand what Ohatni is thinking and what he might do. At the end of the day, they are offering an educated guess.

The only information that has been leaked recently did not even come from Ohtani's camp. Ohtani reportedly met with the Giants, Blue Jays, and Dodgers within the past week. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed that detail for his team, but people are relying more on circumstantial evidence for the Giants and Blue Jays.

The only other detail that has been reported is that the Chicago Cubs might be out of the running, but even that has not been confirmed. The Los Angeles Angels are the only team to be considered a finalist, but there might be a mystery team involved as well.

That mystery team can come out of nowhere sometimes. In 2015, the Giants and Dodgers were thought to be the favorites for Zack Greinke, but a mystery team came in and won the day. That team turned out to be the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The point is to not discount the mystery team. The news of the day is that there was no news, but plenty of entertainment. There is no known timeline for when Ohtani will make a decision, and when he does, it will probably come out of nowhere. That is how he wants this process to go and he has earned that right.