Earlier this week Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred unleashed a decision about the fate of one of baseball’s greatest players.

Earlier this week the one-man judge, jury and executioner crushed the dreams of one of baseball’s biggest fans.

Earlier this week the protector of the owners killed Pete Rose by disallowing the best hitter in the history of baseball the right to be judged by the Baseball Writers of America and a chance to finally make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Manfred has always been a for-the-bigwigs kind of guy in the front office, getting his first stint in the MLB in 1987 while meddling with collective bargaining and then acting as outside council for owners during the ’94-’95 strike. Coming on full time in 1998, Manfred was at the heart of the Biogenesis scandal during the 2000’s and became the easy choice to replace Bud Selig in 2015 upon his retirement.

It took no time for Manfred to start talking about many issues that have faced the league recently.

In an interview with ESPN just a month after taking office, Manfred was asked about his thoughts on Barry Bonds surpassing Hank Aaron as the Home Run King, specifically when considering the shade cast by Bonds’ documented PED use.

“I know for a fact that, based on the numbers, Barry Bonds hit more home runs than anybody else,” Manfred said. “And my view of the world is that, with words like ‘true,’ people have to make their own judgments about those numbers.”

Just this past month Bonds, who is listed on the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot, was given a job as the hitting coach with the Marlins — in turn working daily with the best slugger in the game today, Giancarlo Stanton.

I know for a fact that, based on the numbers, Pete Rose had more base hits than anybody else. Rose didn’t need steroids to reach his true numbers and didn’t bet on himself while playing, Bonds did steroids and bet he wouldn’t get caught while playing.

A large part of Manfred’s choice comes down to Rose not admitting that he has a gambling problem and therefore will be tempted to bet more while around baseball. Rose openly admits to still betting for recreation on baseball, a sport he knows in and out to likely help him succeed.

Meanwhile, Major League Baseball invested in daily fantasy sports betting website DraftKings in 2013, before Manfred took office, and extended that contract in 2015, when Manfred was commissioner.

Obviously these are different, Rose gambled as a team manager, while DraftKings allows the “everyday” person to throw away their money, but cut down to the core issue: if the MLB doesn’t want gambling in baseball, why put money in a company that is coming under fire and is under investigation by the FBI?

As it stands today, Pete Rose cannot be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame despite having 4,265 hits — for perspective Ty Cobb is in second with 4,191 and next is Aaron at 3,771— three World Series rings, two batting titles, one MVP award, two Gold Gloves, 17 All-Star Game appearances and a Rookie of the Year award to his name.

Does shortstop Lou Boudreau’s 1,779 hits and 789 RBIs deserve more than Rose, a batter after whom players designed their game? Second baseman Bill Mazeroski is in the Hall thanks to a clutch, game-winning homer in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, but aside from that, can you tell me a stat he was the king of — not hits, finishing with 2,016.

Boudreau was voted in on his ninth ballot in 1970 and Mazeroski was a Veterans Committee choice 14 years ago. Manfred had no choice in either, just like he shouldn’t in deciding Rose’s fate now.

Bonds and Roger Clemens both deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and are on the ballots this year, with sportswriters across the country saying that it’s time to drop the resentment toward the tarnish they put on the game.

Allow the writers to make their minds up on Rose, too. Let him have the asterisk if needed, but it’s time to give him a chance, Mr. Manfred.

Orioles go international, sign Hyun-soo Kim

Dominating the Korean Baseball Organization for the past nine years has garnered some attention in the Bigs for Hyun-soo Kim in a big way, as the Orioles have signed him to a 2-year, $7 million contract this week in hopes of bolstering their outfield with the 28-year-old.

Kim has been one of the best hitters in Korea during the past several seasons, with a career .318 batting average and .406 on-base percentage from the left side of the plate, numbers needed for the free-swinging Birds. Knocking in 28 home runs last year in one of the biggest Korean parks, Kim’s power equals out to about 15 homers across a full season according to scouts, but that could increase hitting in Camden Yards and with better coaching.

While this signing doesn’t appear to be much more than some depth, it will be interesting how Kim does with the Orioles considering their recent history with imports from across the Pacific. Wei-Yin Chen has been lights out for Baltimore since arriving from Taiwan but felt disrespected by the club when his start was skipped in June, and last March, Korean Suk-min Yoon asked out of his three-year, $5.575 contract after just a year in the minors. Chinese infielder Gui Yuan “Itchy” Xu was signed in July, but not much has been heard of him since the arrival of the best nickname in the pipeline.