Report: Manfred considering family's request to remove Rose's ban

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is contemplating posthumously removing Pete Rose from baseball's ineligible list based on a petition filed Jan. 8 by the all-time hit leader's family, sources told Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN.

Rose's former lawyer, Jeffrey Lenkov, submitted the petition after he and the 17-time All-Star's oldest daughter, Fawn Rose, met with Manfred and other MLB officials Dec. 17.

"The commissioner was respectful, gracious, and actively participated in productive discussions regarding removing Rose from the ineligible list," Lenkov said.

The attorney added that he's attempting to reverse Rose's lifetime ban for betting on baseball "so that we could seek induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, which had long been his desire and is now being sought posthumously by his family."

Manfred reportedly declined to comment about the petition.

Rose, who died Sept. 30 at age 83, had all his previous reinstatement bids rejected, including one by Manfred in December 2015.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he would pardon Rose and criticized MLB for keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.

MLB banned Rose for life in 1989 for gambling while he was a player-manager for the Cincinnati Reds in 1986. Although Rose denied the allegations, the league's investigation showed evidence that he bet on baseball, and specifically Reds games, between 1985-87. Rose reversed course in 2004 and admitted to betting on baseball, including games in which he was involved. He denied ever betting on his team to lose.