  Radio campaigns using maser stellar beacons have provided crucial information
to characterize Galactic stellar populations. Currently, the Bulge Asymmetries
and Dynamical Evolution (BAaDE) project is surveying infrared (IR)
color-selected targets for SiO masers. This provides a sample of evolved stars
that can be used to study the inner, optically obscured Galaxy using line of
sight velocities and possibly VLBI proper motions. In order to use the BAaDE
sample for kinematic studies, the stellar population should be characterized.
In this study, the BAaDE targets have been cross-matched with IR (2MASS) and
optical Gaia samples. By exploring the synergies of this cross-match together
with Gaia parallaxes and extinction maps, the local ($d < 2$ kpc) AGB stars can
be characterized. We have defined a \textit{BAaDE-Gaia} sample of 20,111
sources resulting from cross-matching BAaDE targets with IR and optical
surveys. From this sample, a~{\local} sample of 1,812 evolved stars with
accurate parallax measurements, confirmed evolved stellar evolution stage, and
within 2 kpc distance around the Sun was selected, for which absolute
(bolometric) magnitudes are estimated. The evolved stellar population with Gaia
counterparts that are variable seems to be predominantly associated with AGB
stars with moderate luminosity ($1,500^{+3,000}_{-500} \ L_\odot$) and periods
between 250 and 1,250 days.
