He’s not in the lineup, but he’s not on his way to New York, either. Or anywhere else.

When Manny Ramirez was a late scratch Saturday, that certainly set the rumor mill spinning, as MLB.com’s Ian Browne reports from Fenway. A Sox official said in the wake of the intriguing lineup scratch that there is no deal in place for Ramirez, and the Boston Globe reported Saturday the trade possibility cooled off considerably because the Devil Rays have insisted on shortstop prospect Hanley Ramirez from the Sox.

Look, it’s clear the Sox, Mets and Devil Rays have done some serious work here, but there’s just too much work to be done on this one. The clock was ticking before this one even began. Hey, maybe this winter. (Hard to write this one off the way it’s gone, but there you go.)

This doesn’t figure to be the last Manny update we’ll have, but the next one’s probably that the deal’s really dead and not coming back to life — during the season at least.