Late last week, free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre said that his preference was to return to the Red Sox, all things being equal. However, the Red Sox then put themselves on the verge of pulling off an Adrian Gonzalez trade, and with Gonzalez at first, Kevin Youkilis moving to third, and David Ortiz at DH, all of a sudden there was nowhere for Beltre to play.

But now there's good news for Beltre - the Gonzalez trade has reportedly fallen through, and while the deal isn't completely dead, it certainly looks as if the Red Sox will have to turn their attention elsewhere. And without Gonzalez, then a spot remains for Beltre to return.

We'll have to see how things develop on this front, as the Red Sox could elect to keep talking to the Padres. Beltre, though, hasn't gotten a lot of interest from teams other than the A's, and could make for an "easy" re-sign. He likes Boston, and Boston likes him.

It's expected that the Red Sox will also make a push to sign Jayson Werth.