Dodgers release catcher Miguel Olivo after fight with Alex Guerrero

Seems there can only be so much to investigate when one player takes a bite out of another.

Thursday morning the Dodgers announced they had released triple-A catcher Miguel Olivo, who got into to dugout fight with teammate Alex Guerrero on Tuesday in Salt Lake City and bit off a hunk of his left ear.

Guerrero had plastic surgery on the ear and could be out for over a month.

The Dodgers weren’t exactly expansive in their announcement of Olivo’s discharge. The entire press release read:

“Today, the Los Angeles Dodgers released catcher Miguel Olivo from their roster. The Dodgers now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.”

Team upper management was in New York with the Dodgers and was expected to address the media before Thursday night’s game against the Mets. It’s safe to assume that they decided fighting is one thing but agreed with Guerrero’s agent, Scott Boras, that there is no “cannibalizing” in baseball.

Olivo, 35, was called up from triple-A Albuquerque when catcher A.J. Ellis went on the disabled list, appearing in eight games and batting .217. For the Isotopes he was hitting .368, second best average on the team to Guerrero’s .376.

The Dodgers signed Guerrero in the off-season to a four-year, $28-million contract and converted the lifelong shortstop to second base. They hoped he could win the position with the Dodgers, but Guerrero struggled to make the defensive adjustment in the spring. Meanwhile, Dee Gordon has seized the everyday job at second.

The Dodgers, however, wanted to find a way to bring his bat up and had played him the last two days for the Isotopes at shortstop and also said they were considering giving him a look at third.

For Olivo, this marks the eighth time in his career he has been released by a club.