The most anticipated and unique free agency in Major League Baseball history is expected to conclude at some point this weekend.

But first, chaos.

Shohei Ohtani is reportedly choosing a new team by Sunday, but the process went from private to perplexing on Friday, thanks to a bevy of conflicting updates.

Just before 9 a.m. ET on Friday, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported that Ohtani’s decision was “imminent” and could happen as early as that day, which happened to be the anniversary of him choosing the Los Angeles Angels in 2017. Morosi then named the Toronto Blue Jays as “one finalist” to land the superstar.

An hour later, an X account claiming to belong to Canadian/Korean opera singer Clarence Frazer offered an unexpected update. “SOURCE: Yusei Kikuchi reserves entire upscale sushi restaurant near Rogers Centre for tonight. Reservation made for 50+ people. Make of that what you will…” He wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Frazer’s claim turned out to be baseless, but it didn’t matter. Just before 2 p.m., JP Hoornstra announced, “Shohei Ohtani’s choice is in. This is not a drill” on X. In the accompanying article, the veteran sports editor and reporter wrote that multiple sources had informed the outlet that Ohtani had chosen the Blue Jays. “The exact value of Ohtani’s contract isn’t known, but it is expected to shatter the value of Mike Trout’s record 12-year, $426.5 million deal with the Angels,” he revealed.

SportsNet and ESPN reporters quickly pumped the brakes on Hoornstra’s story. The Blue Jays may be “finalists,” several said, but nothing was close to official.

At 4 p.m. Morosi announced that sources had informed him that the two-way player was en route to Toronto. Though he attempted to caution, writing that CAA wouldn’t comment on their player’s potential decision and that the star hadn’t signed an agreement with any team, the baseball world was already in uproar.

Using a public flight tracker, over 4,000 fans monitored a flight from John Wayne Airport to Toronto. The private jet’s passengers turned out to be millionaire businessman Robert Herjavec and his family, but that did little to slow the rumor mill. Former Blue Jays and Yankees outfielder Jesse Barfield posted about how “INCREDIBLE” it would be to have Ohtani in Toronto, along with a photoshopped image of the player in a Blue Jays uniform. When Drake, a Toronto native, posted a photo to his Instagram wearing an Ohtani jersey, MLB shared the rapper’s post on X. Merriam-Webster was among the brands that joined the fray. “We can confirm that Shohei Ohtani is not in the Merriam-Webster Citation Archives,” the dictionary account wrote on X alongside a photo of their archives.

An hour after Morosi’s flight report, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale refuted it. Ohtani was neither in Toronto nor flying there, and was at his home in Southern California, he wrote. Former MLB general manager and current analyst Jim Bowden confirmed that Ohtani wasn’t in Toronto and added, “No decision is imminent.” Others concurred.

Since becoming a free agent, Ohtani has insisted on keeping the process as private as possible. When his MVP announcement video came out and showed him sitting with (and high-fiving) his adorable dog, no one would reveal his dog’s name. His camp warned teams against speaking about their courtship of him, and threatened that doing so would hurt their chances of signing him.

But after Friday’s mess, it’s hard to blame him for wanting to play things close to the vest.