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Bernie Sanders backs Sean Doolittle over MLB minor leagues contraction

When the Nationals visited the White House earlier this month, Donald Trump made no mention of Sean Doolittle after the closer announced he’d be skipping the celebration over the president’s rhetoric. But on Tuesday, Doolittle earned a shoutout from another political figure.

Presidential candidate and democratic senator Bernie Sanders quote-tweeted Doolittle, agreeing with the 33-year-old that Major League Baseball shouldn’t shutter more than 25% of its minor-league affiliates.

According to multiple reports, MLB is considering contracting 42 of its 160 minor-league teams — including two of the Nationals’ affiliates, the Class-A Hagerstown Suns and the Short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays — by 2021, the first season after the league’s Profession Baseball Agreement (PBA) expires.