How Pete Rose reinstatement could impact Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens

On Monday, Major League Baseball made stunning decision that some people thought may never come. Commissioner Rob Manfred softened the lifetime back rules, opening the door for a possible reinstatement for Pete Rose and Joe Jackson. However, there are many other disgraced legends in the sport, such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, so what happens to them?

Of course, Rose and Jackson were banned from the league for life and barred from Hall of Fame induction for gambling on games, while Bonds, Clemens and many others have not been elected to Cooperstown due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Still, this decision by Manfred could open a can of worms that could be hard to close, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

“If Pete Rose gets into the Hall of Fame after breaking baseball’s cardinal sin, it should certainly open the door for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and even those like A-Rod and Rafael Palmeiro who were suspended for PED use,” Nightengale wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Whether all of the aforementioned players should be in the Hall of Fame has been one of the most controversial topics in baseball for many years now, and now at least some of them should have a door open into Cooperstown. The debate has raged surrounding Rose for years and years as the all-time hit king served his ban.

Rose passed away in the fall of 2024, so he will not get to see his induction if it ever does come. However, this is a monumental decision by Manfred and the rest of the MLB front office that will draw strong reactions from both sides of the coin.

Whether PED users like Bonds, Clemens and Alex Rodriguez should be reinstated or not is a completely different discussion, as they have been excluded for different reasons. Some people will say to let them all in, some will say let none of them in at all, while many others will have differing opinions by case.