TORONTO — The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes reached a new level of intrigue on a wild Friday of amateur internet sleuthing, which culminated with fans breathlessly tracking a private jet from Southern California to Toronto, only to later find out it was carrying Canadian businessman Robert Herjavec and not the two-way Japanese superstar.

Anticipation is at an all-time high as the baseball world awaits word on which team will sign Ohtani to what is likely to be the richest contract in Major League Baseball history.

The Blue Jays are reportedly among the finalists to sign Ohtani along with the Dodgers, and perhaps other teams, too, including the Giants and Cubs. Toronto’s front office has been quietly confident that its pitch was well-received by the reigning AL MVP, though multiple reports said Ohtani has yet to make his final decision.

But that hasn’t stopped Blue Jays fans from speculating on whether Ohtani will sign in Toronto by using whatever clues they can find, practically working themselves into a tizzy throughout Friday.

It began when Internet sleuths tracked a private plane from an airport in Orange County to Toronto that was set to arrive around 4 p.m. ET on Friday. MLB Network reporter Jon Morosi later added fuel to the speculation when he reported that Ohtani was en route to Toronto. (He has since retracted that report.)

Throughout the day, there was more buzz on social media after an X user tweeted about Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi making a large dinner reservation at a restaurant near the Rogers Centre. Others speculated that Friday could be the day because six years ago, on Dec. 8, 2017, Ohtani announced he was signing with the Angels. Meanwhile, Toronto-born rapper Drake joined in, too, posting a photo of himself wearing an All-Star Ohtani jersey on Instagram.

When the private plane in question landed, ground control at Toronto’s Pearson Airport slyly greeted those on board by saying, a “very warm welcome, to everybody that may or may not be on board, to Toronto, welcome in,” as posted by X user @matttomic.

But by early evening, multiple reports surfaced that Ohtani was, in fact, not on a private plane heading to Toronto. The plane, according to CBC reporter Devin Heroux, had instead been carrying Herjavec, from reality TV shows “Shark Tank” and “Dragons’ Den.”

Despite all the excitement, it appears we will all be waiting at least one more day to find out if the Jays (or another team) have themselves a deal.