According to Adrian Beltre himself, the Washington Nationals made a play for the then-31-year-old third baseman when he hit free agency after a strong 2010 campaign in Boston in which he put up a .321/.365/.553 line and hit 49 doubles and 28 HR over 154 games and 641 plate appearances with the Red Sox.
When the Texas Rangers, who ended up signing Beltre to a 5-year/$80M contract in January of 2011, visited the nation's capital earlier this summer, Beltre told Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore that he came close to signing with the Nationals that winter, before they signed Jayson Werth to a 7-year/$126M deal.
"'I met with [Nationals' GM Mike] Rizzo back in L.A.,'" Beltre told the WaPost reporter, recalling the meeting which reportedly included Beltre's agent Scott Boras, Rizzo and Nats' Principal Owner Ted Lerner. "'We talked. I asked questions, he answered. He asked questions, I answered. And it got close, but it didn’t work out.'"
According to a report by MLB.com's Bill Ladson this past weekend, the Nationals asked the Rangers about Beltre recently after Ryan Zimmerman suffered a hamstring injury that will reportedly keep him out of the lineup for as long as 6-8 weeks according to a report by FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, though the Nats have yet to comment on the extent of the injury or the expected length of the 29-year-old infielder's recovery.
As Ladson noted in the report on the Nationals' inquiries, however, one of the two sources who revealed that the Nats asked said they "were rebuffed."
ESPN.com's Jayson Stark touched on the reports of inquiries about Beltre on the Nationals' behalf in his Rumblings and Grumblings column today, writing that, "[w]hile there were denials all around when rumors surfaced of the Nationals' interest in Adrian Beltre, the Rangers did scout the Nationals' Triple-A club this weekend."
Adam Kilgore, in a post at the WaPost's Nationals Journal on Monday, had a different take on the Rangers' "scouting presence" in upstate New York this weekend.
"The Rangers are an obvious seller with bullpen parts to move," he wrote, "and they had a scouting presence at Class AAA Syracuse this weekend. The Chiefs were playing the affiliate from the Braves, who also reportedly want relief help."
The Rangers already traded Joakim Soria, but veteran right-hander Neal Cotts is rumored to be available and has been mentioned as a possible target for anyone looking for bullpen help with former Nats' GM Jim Bowden listing him as a reliever the Nationals could pursue.
As for Beltre, several reports, including one by CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman, have said the Rangers, "... are understandably considering this year an injury-riddled aberration," and since they, "... intend to compete again next year, they have decided it's pointless to spend time on trade talks involving Beltre, the team leader as well as an All-Star third baseman."
When current Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo was asked last weekend by MLB.com's Bill Ladson about potentially going after a third baseman, he dismissed the idea, saying, "We have a great third baseman. His name is Anthony Rendon. We have another Gold Glove-caliber guy. His name is Ryan Zimmerman, who is going to be back soon. We feel pretty confident, especially at that position."