When Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that a dead man can no longer be banned from baseball, my first thought was this: If Pete Rose is going into the Hall of Fame, then Barry Bonds is too.
My second thought was this: What if neither one is going into the Hall of Fame?
Sounds silly, I know. There is no reason to reinstate Rose except to make him eligible for the Hall of Fame. Baseball does not need a commissioner setting up a fresh recounting of Rose’s sins every few years because he keeps appearing on a Hall of Fame ballot without being elected.