Amid Shohei Ohtani's free agency, his links to the Toronto Blue Jays intensified after it was reported that he's heading to the Great White North on Friday. However, it has since been refuted, with the journalist who made the claim apologizing and walking back on his statement.

Shohei Ohtani heading to Toronto … or not?

Shohei Ohtani with several question marks above his head.

For those who missed it, Jon Morosi of MLB Network shared early on Friday that “Ohtani is en route to Toronto today. A representative of his agency, CAA, would not comment when asked about Ohtani's travel plans. At this hour, Ohtani does not have a signed agreement with any MLB team.”

Of course it sent Blue Jays fans into a frenzy. After all, for a player to go to a city after letting his agents do all the negotiations in free agency signify that he has some big interest in joining the said team. Unfortunately, the excitement quickly fizzed after Bob Nightengale of USA Today clarified that there is no truth to the report, saying: “Shohei Ohtani is NOT in Toronto. Ohtani is NOT on a flight to Toronto. Ohtani is at home in Southern California.”

Due to the conflicting reports, many had questions about who to believe. After all, both Morosi  and Nightengale are reputable MLB insiders who have a good track record of reporting breaking news.

Jon Morosi apologizes for Shohei Ohtani mistake

Shohei Ohtani in a Blue Jays uniform. Eyeball emojis around him.

To set the record straight, Morosi issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, to confirm that he made an “inaccurate” report and that what Nightengale said is the correct information.

“Today, I posted reporting that included inaccurate information that Shohei Ohtani was traveling to Toronto. I regret the mistake and apologize to baseball fans everywhere. I am deeply sorry for letting you down,” Morosi wrote.

Sure enough, Blue Jays fans were quite disappointed with the rather heartbreaking turn of events. It doesn't really mean they are out of the running for Ohtani, but for someone to raise their hopes up only to crush it hours later, it's certainly not a good feeling that will linger for some time.

But hey, at least Morosi owns up to his mistake and quickly addressed it once he confirmed that he sent out a wrong report.