(currently unavailable from the Snakes’ team store, image culled from AZ Sports Hub)

Undaunted by the New York Mets preferring to place sure-thing Hall Of Famer Nick Evans on their 25 man roster or the D-Backs essentially saying “please, god, no, anyone but him”, Barry Bonds’ agent Jeff Borris promises his client is ready to rock.

“Give him 10 days to hit off live pitching, and he’ll be ready,” Borris told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, though if the former considers the likes of Nick Green, Brandon Duckworth or Ruddy Lugo to be “live”, a big league GM might be just better off trying to make a deal for Texas’ Nelson Cruz or Florida’s Dallas McPherson.  The Boston Herald’s Tony Massaroti, however, would like to see the Red Sox make a run at the Sultan of Surly, “as long as he doesn’t stay at my house.”

At what point is a team or its fans willing to compromise their integrity in the name of winning? When does a man™s flaws as a person outweigh his attributes as a player?

On the one hand, many Sox fans recently have said they would have difficulty cheering for Bonds or the Red Sox if the team acquired him. On the other, many of those folks would be cheering wildly the moment Bonds contributed to a Red Sox victory with a home run that further cemented his statistical place as the greatest home run hitter of all time.

Try to be honest with yourselves on this one. What is good for the team generally is good for you.

Keep in mind, Tony is asking hypothetical questions about an organization that continued to play Will Cordero in ’97, allowed Manny Alexander to fuck over a lowly batboy and currently employs Julio Lugo.  On the level of ethical dilemmas, Bonds’s truculence should not be that big a deal.