The St. Louis Cardinals, who selected righthanded pitcher Juan Mateo in the Rule 5 draft during the offseason, have returned Mateo to the Chicago Cubs, reports the AP and daytonacubs.com.

In this morning's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tony LaRussa had been quoted as saying that Mateo's status with the team was "in limbo."

Mateo was the only player the Cubs lost in the Rule 5 draft this year. He was slightly late to the Cardinals' camp because of Visa problems and has only pitched in 1.2 innings this spring, though he did not allow a baserunner in that time.