According to Steve Berthiaume the answer is a yes.  At about the
25-minute mark of Jonah Keri's Grantland Radio Podcast,
Berthiaume stated that the Reds were surprisingly close to
bringing in the three-time MVP:  “I think they were a lot closer
to getting Albert Pujols than anybody knows or anybody talked
about. I think the Votto money was targeted for Pujols in the
offseason and when that didn’t pan out that they said, OK, let’s
keep our guy, let’s give it to Joey Votto. I think those two
were more connected than anyone realizes.”  Wait, what?  I don't
know how much stock I put into this, but if this is true, how
did news of this never leak out? GM Walt Jocketty shot down
these claims today but honestly, did he have any other choice?
When writer John Fay asked about the rumor, Jocketty said,  “It
would be different if came from a credible source. Someone
played it for me. Even the guy with him tried to blow it off."
Like I said though, what other choice did he have but to deny
these claims?  If you're a GM