PHOENIX, AZ – APRIL 06: Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball Bud Selig before the Opening Day MLB game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on April 6, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Bud Selig’s election to the Hall of Fame might be the needed push to get known PED users into Cooperstown.

On Sunday, Selig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The decision divided the baseball community. Selig, commissioner of MLB from 1992-2014, was responsible for a number of key elements in the game today, including adding both the wild card playoff spot and interleague play. He was also responsible for taking the league to its current financial heights. However, Selig’s biggest legacy is overseeing baseball’s steroid era. The league was a total mess in the early 2000s, when PED accusations became the norm, killing the league’s credibility as a clean sport.

With Selig’s induction, Hall of Fame voters are changing their stance on suspected cheaters. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle announced she’ll now vote for players who she believe cheated, since Selig is now in the HOF.

The stance might seem bizarre, but it’s a perfectly reasonable response to Selig getting in. Selig didn’t do nearly enough to prevent or stop baseball’s steroid era. He was a willing enabler and because of that, the league’s reputation suffered greatly. If his actions are deemed good enough to get into the Hall of Fame, than those he enabled belong too. It’s logically sound reasoning.

Kevin Davidoff of the New York Post also announced he’ll be voting for those connected to PEDs during the steroid era due to Selig’s induction – but for an entirely different reason. He wrote, because Selig’s collusion in suppressing free agent salaries as Milwaukee Brewers owner in the mid-to-late 80’s, PED users are now fair game for voting.

When you take illegal PEDs, or cork a bat, you break the rules as you’re trying to win. When you collude to keep salaries down, thereby not fully pursuing talent? You’re breaking the rules as you’re not trying your hardest to win. Which transgression is truly worse?

The move will open the door for Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens – all players with surefire Hall of Fame numbers whose chances were tainted by PED suspicions, at least where the writers are concerned. It’s already too late for Mark McGwire, who fell off after not making it in during his ten years of eligibility. At best, he received 23.7 percent of votes. The same can be said for Rafael Palmeiro, who was only eligible for four seasons, despite 569 career home runs. He maxed out at 12.6 percent. These guys got stiffed in voting and are now on the outside looking in.

It’s about time the league stop punishing players for Selig’s mistakes. Steroid users are culpable for cheating, but the league made little effort to prevent them from doing so. Since Selig and his steroid enabling legacy is Hall of Fame bound, there’s no reason players who cheated (or are suspected to have) should be blackballed as well. Frankly, we’re past a point as a society to care about the allegations. Yes, players caught doping in today’s game don’t belong, but that’s due to the much stricter and clearer rules are in place to prevent them from doing so. That was then, and this was now – the same rules don’t apply.

Now, let’s get some of MLB’s best, juiced or not, into the Hall of Fame.

About Liam McGuire

Social +Staff writer for The Comeback & Awful Announcing. Liammcguirejournalism@gmail.com