The crystal ball does not look great for SF Giants on Shohei Ohtani

LATEST Dec. 8, 4:45 p.m.: Shohei Ohtani still has not made his free-agent decision and appears to still be in Southern California, despite multiple reports to the contrary.

Earlier on Friday, Dodgers Nation reporter J.P. Hoornstra reported that Ohtani had chosen the Toronto Blue Jays over the other other finalists, including Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels. Hoornstra’s report did not mention the San Francisco Giants, though they were considered a finalist still as recently as Wednesday by others.

One specific post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale said Ohtani is still in Southern California made the social media rounds, sparking meme posts from all corners of the internet. Even the Merriam-Webster dictionary account chimed in. According to one report, the person reportedly on a private jet to Toronto was a Canadian businessman, who even got in on the social media fun.

For now, the waiting game continues. It does not appear that anyone is any closer to knowing Ohtani’s true next step than they were at the start of the day. But at least people have had a day of fun posts on the Internet.

Dec. 8, 10:20 a.m.: As Shohei Ohtani reportedly nears his free agency decision, it appears that the Giants have fallen out of the running.

According to MLB insider Jon Morosi, an Ohtani decision is “imminent” and could come as soon as Friday.

Morosi reported that the two teams in the “final group of teams” at this point are the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As recently as Tuesday, the Giants were seen as finalists for Ohtani, alongside the Jays, Dodgers and Ohtani’s former team, the Los Angeles Angels. There were “indications” that the Giants met with Ohtani last weekend, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, though the team would neither confirm nor deny the meeting. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

But in the past 24 hours, baseball insiders have seemingly downgraded the Giants’ chances at landing Ohtani. MLB Network host Greg Amsinger gave the Giants a 1% shot on Wednesday evening, mainly casting this as a two-team race between the Jays and the Dodgers. Amsinger’s other panelists, reporters Jon Heyman and Mark Feinsand and former New York Mets general manager Steve Phillips, all quibbled with the small details of Amsinger’s pie chart but agreed with the big-picture assertion that it’s mostly boiling down to a two-team show.

Participating in the Ohtani sweepstakes has certainly whipped the fan bases of multiple teams into a frenzied state, with intrepid sleuths hunting for any sign that the superstar is signing with their club. Perhaps the silliest investigation revolves around the possible name of Ohtani’s new puppy, who was first introduced during Ohtani’s American League Most Valuable Player announcement last month. On Wednesday, Amsinger revealed that MLB Network was told not to ask about the dog during last month’s announcement and reported that he heard the name is connected to the team he could be signing with, adding cheekily that it’s a “massive story.” That rumor is also something journalist Pablo Torre reported on Friday morning, teasing a new episode of his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” that is set to drop later on Friday about the dog.

Meanwhile, on Friday morning, a Blue Jays fan posted on X, formerly Twitter, that they’d found a private flight scheduled from Anaheim to Toronto and implied it might mean Ohtani is coming up north. There was also a report from a Toronto opera singer — yes, really — that Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, who like Ohtani is from Japan, had made a reservation at a local sushi restaurant for “50+ people” for Friday night.

Despite the apparently fading possibility, Giants fans have also gotten in on the action. One fan offered a local twist on the restaurant tweet, but with Ohtani’s former teammate Alex Cobb renting out a Round Table Pizza in Daly City instead of an upscale sushi joint. Others have also tracked flights to San Francisco from the greater Los Angeles area.

It’s all a sign of just how much fans are hoping and wishing that their team lands Ohtani, whose agent has reportedly threatened teams to not divulge information about his client’s free agency. Given that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemingly broke that rule and confirmed an Ohtani meeting, reportedly causing a rift in LA’s front office, that nugget will undoubtedly recirculate if Ohtani does not pick the Dodgers.