Let's get one thing straight.

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The Nationals aren't going to magically contend next season by getting rid of Nyjer Morgan. Their problems are a lot bigger than Morgan, the centerfielder who has spent the last week trying to pick fights with everyone in the National League, like when Tanner Boyle fought the seventh grade -- off camera -- in The Bad News Bears.

There have been a lot of people in the Nats blogosphere arguing that Tony Plush needs to go. The good feelings that Morgan produced last season, when it seemed Washington had fleeced Pittsburgh in the Lastings Milledge deal, netting Morgan and Sean Burnett for Milledge and Joel Hanrahan, are gone. And, to be fair, many of those voices have been saying all year that Morgan should be sent packing, citing a woeful on-base percentage (.317) for a leadoff man, his poor throwing arm, his strange decisions on the basepaths -- how does someone so fast get picked off so often and caught stealing so much?

And Morgan's last seven days -- being suspended by Major League Baseball for allegedly throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia (he is appealing, and at least one fan has said Morgan did nothing wrong); needlessly making contact with Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson in the eighth inning of a game Washington led 11-5, a move that led to a benching by Manager Jim Riggleman the next day; getting into a spat with Riggleman over said benching; bowling over Marlins catcher Brett Hayes, and separating Hayes's shoulder, in the 10th inning of a 1-0 loss in Florida Tuesday, and his starring role in Wednesday's Pier Six Brawl with the Marlins -- have congealed into one giant indictment in the minds of many, one seemingly reinforcing the last and sealing a meme that Morgan is an out-of-control hothead.

You know what?

The Nats need to be a little out of control sometimes.

Much was made of the team's decision to dump Elijah Dukes during spring training, with the inference quite clear that there were a lot of Dukes's teammates that no longer cared for his act. During the 20-15 portion of Washington's regular season, all you heard was how drastically improved the clubhouse and chemistry were this season. Presumably, Morgan was part of that -- he was the guy who thought up the whole Elvis wig for the game MVP thing, wasn't he? -- Even when he made Pop Warner mistakes like throwing his glove down after dropping Adam Jones's fly in May, thinking the ball went over the wall, and allowing Jones to circle the bases for an inside-the-park homer.

Indeed, the Nationals have a clubhouse full of nice guys. Ryan Zimmerman is a prince and Adam Dunn doesn't cause any trouble, and everybody loves Drew Storen and Josh Willingham is swell. Pudge Rodriguez and Mike Morse and Roger Bernadina and Ian Desmond all seem like fine fellows. Riggleman is a class act. No joke.

This great group of guys begins play in Pittsburgh Friday 21 games out of first in the NL East.

Understand -- they're not losing because they're good guys. But they're not winning because of it, either.

You may blame Morgan for Wednesday's events because of what he did to Hayes the night before. That's fair. He certainly expected to get plunked by Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad, and when he was, in the fourth inning, he went to first without complaint. And that should have been the end of it. But Morgan then stole second base and stole third -- which, according to the Marlins, violated a sacred unwritten code of the game -- Thou Shalt Not Steal Down Eleven Runs. Morgan was, the Marlins claimed, showing them up.

Wait a minute.

The Nationals were down by 11, not up. You want to do something about Morgan running? Throw his butt out. Put a hard tag on him as he slides into second, or third. And even if you accept the Marlins' dubious explanation for Volstad throwing at Morgan a second time, what explains Volstad hitting Wil Nieves and Alberto Gonzalez before he hit Morgan the first time? And why on earth didn't Volstad receive at least a warning from home plate umpire Marvin Hudson after hitting three players in four innings?

I'd much rather have a guy who is still motivated enough to run hard down 14-3 than someone laughing and joking with the opposition that just plunked him. And coaches have always told me it's easier to calm an excitable guy down than to try and fire a listless guy up.

Edge is a good thing, as long as its harnessed and sent in the right direction. Most good teams have not only stars like Stephen Strasburg, but people that get under people's skin, annoy them, get them off their game. Sometimes, as with Pete Rose on the Reds or Christian Laettner at Duke, it's the same guy. But most irritants are guys like Morgan, players of some but not limitless talent, who stay in the game because they play all-out, even when games are long since decided. Sean Avery, the New York Rangers' winger, is an irritant. Ron Artest, the Lakers' forward, is an irritant. Morgan is an irritant.

And the two guys at the heart of the Nats' future -- Strasburg and Bryce Harper -- aren't shrinking violets, either. They have prodigious talent, but they each also have an edge. An edge that occasionally veers into surliness -- Strasburg with the media, and Harper with umpires and others (the meat of this infamous Baseball Prospectus story is behind a pay wall). Titles in any sport are won with great talent, but almost always, that talent is fused with an attitude that annoys teammates and intimidates the opposition. News flash: Roger Clemens and Kobe Bryant aren't great guys. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan weren't great teammates. Great players, yes. Great teammates, no.

Does Morgan need to slow his roll after the brawl? Absolutely. But he can't fundamentally change who he is. That's what got him here. That's what was so exciting about him when he came from Pittsburgh and hit .351, with a .396 on-base, a .435 slugging percentage and an .831 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). He gave a team whose clunkiness forced it into station to station baseball a chance to manufacture runs. He made catches like this one) this season. (He had an amazing diving catch against the Marlins on Tuesday.) And unless you think Bernadina is ready to play center every day, do the Nats really have anyone that's better than Morgan?

When Mike Rizzo acquired Morgan, he told the Post, "his attitude, make-up and high energy level are really part of his package as a player."

That's still true.

The Nats fired Rob Dibble this week (I know. MASN fired him. Right.) because he said too many things that were, sometimes, stupid and unpopular. They shouldn't fire Morgan because he does things that are, sometimes, stupid and unpopular. There's still a pretty good player in there, under all the misplaced brimstone and fire. Give Morgan an offseason to try and find him.

David Aldridge is the NBA Insider for TNT and NBA-TV, and will be a regular contributor to TBD.com.