Washington Nationals release and re-sign Bronson Arroyo and Burke Badenhop

Bronson Arroyo's attempted comeback from Tommy John surgery was stalled by what Washington Nationals' GM MIke Rizzo, after plenty of speculation, said were tears in his rotator cuff and inflammation in the shoulder area that shut him down.

Arroyo, 39, underwent surgery on his elbow back in 2014 and had the shoulder cleaned up at the time as well.

He signed a minor league deal with the Nationals this winter and was moving along in his return before the latest issues surfaced.

This morning, the Nationals announced that they released and subsequently re-signed both Arroyo and right-handed reliever Burke Badenhop, bringing them both back on minor league contracts so the veteran pitchers will remain with the organization.

Arroyo threw five innings before the injury issues, giving up four hits, two runs and two walks while holding opposing hitters to a .222 line early in Grapefruit League action.

Badenhop, 33, made seven appearances this Spring, giving up eight hits, six walks and seven runs in six innings of work after he signed a minor league deal with the Nationals back in February.

The Nationals assigned Badenhop to minor league camp on March 21st.

The Nats made the announcement on the latest roster machinations on Twitter this morning:

The #Nats released and subsequently re-signed RHPs Bronson Arroyo and Burke Badenhop to minor league contracts.

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 30, 2016

The last word on Arroyo, as of March 19th, was that the veteran right-hander would begin a program to strengthen his shoulder and that the rehab process could take four to six weeks.

The starter said before the official announcement on the extent of his injury that he would not consider surgery again, but would either rehab the shoulder or retire. Today's deal is a sign that he's at least not calling it a career yet.