Not trying to defend Rose, but did he, or did he not, bet on his own team to lose? Being guilty of betting on baseball, verses being guilty to throw games that you can control, are two different things in my opinion. What exactly did he admit to?
From what I have read and seen in the media, I don't think Rose is someone I would hang with socially. Seems like an arse. But, just in terms of what he did on the field, if they cannot prove that he fixed games, to me that is important. Baseball like all other sports is about to get more filthy rich from online gambling, and if they cannot prove Rose intentionally lost games, well, then either let him in the hall or don't take the money.
If MLB never ever takes a cent from the legal gambling, then they have leg to stand on in my opinion. If they choose to profit, then fine, they need to let Rose and Shoeless Joe be associated with the game in limited ways and document all their findings. Be up front about it, hey these guys were great players but they made a major mistake. As such we recognize what they did, but they are welcome here no more.
But of course, steroids and world series cheating does not matter, it put butts in the seats and dollars in their pockets. It's by far and away the worst of the pro sports leagues in the U.S.