they started using steroids. IMO that may make their usage of steroids worse than a marginal player who decided to use steroids to either help get a MLB job or remain in MLB. If the writers start to judge players only on their pre-steroid stats and ignore their "steroid" stats, then that could create a slippery slope when it comes to deciding on players like Pete Rose or someone like "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. I don't think the writers can vote on Jackson due to the time constraints. However, there could be another player who has HoF stats before being banned from MLB for whatever reason.