Blake Gailen and the AAAA Players

I am very partial to AAAA players.  I know they waaaaaay too often get labeled as dung heap players, dumpster diving players, etc.  Never mind that they competed at a higher level than almost everyone on these blog sites who love to denigrate their baseball abilities. I guess that is why I have never been down on guys like Tyler White.  I wrote about Max Muncy before most Dodger fans even knew who he was (January 2, 2018).

LH Hitting 2B – How About Max Muncy?

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I followed that up a year later with the following:

Max Muncy – A Year Later

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So while I am certainly disappointed in what Max has done thus far in 2020, I am not about to give up on him.  Max was on his way to being another in the long line of AAAA players when he made the most out of his chance (probably last chance).

That brings me to the primary topic of this particular column.  To me, Blake Gailen is a remarkable story of perseverance, and epitomizes the makeup of a AAAA player.  Blake Shane Gailen was born March 27, 1985, in Verdugo Hills, California to Scott and Charlene Gailen.  Blake is a LHH OF and favorably listed as 5’9”.  Gailen played baseball at El Camino Real High School, Woodland Hills, CA, where he was both a pitcher and OF.  Randy Wolf is undoubtedly the best known graduate of that HS baseball program.  Other MLB players out of El Camino include: Mark Brouhard, Kurt Birkins, Conor Jackson, Ryan Lavarnway, and Ryan McGuire.  I also have to throw in one of my son’s (Andy) close friends (youth ball), Dan Cey.  Dan made it to AAA before retiring after five years after being a 3^rd round pick of the Minnesota Twins.

After graduating High School, Blake went undrafted, and joined the Glendale Community College Vaqueros baseball program.  He was All-Western State Conference after his freshman season, and All-Southern California after his sophomore season.  He played summer ball with the Fayetteville SwampDogs and was a Coastal Plain League All Star after both the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

After his sophomore season, he again went undrafted and signed to play for UNLV.  After his senior season, Blake again went undrafted, but he was not going to give up his dream.  He chose to sign with the Anderson Joes of the now defunct Independent South Coast League, where he batted .368/.455/.526.  In 2008, Gailen signed with the Wichita Wingnuts of the South Division of the American Independent League.

For 2009-2010, Blake signed with the Chico Outlaws of the North American Independent League where he batted .355 and .387 respectively while also recording 30 doubles and stealing 36 bases.  In 2010 Blake finished second in the league in batting average (.387) to Larry Bigbie.  He also finished 3^rd in OBP (.480), and had a slugging percentage of .603, and was named an All Star. 

In 2011, Gailen joined the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball League, where he won the American Association batting title (.406).  He was finally noticed by a MLB organization, and signed a minor league contract with the Anaheim Angels to replace some guy named Mike Trout on their Arkansas Travelers AA roster.  Unfortunately Blake was unable to duplicate those lofty batting averages he accumulated in Indy ball.  His season ended with a .208 batting average and was released prior to the 2012 season.

In 2012, still not believing his career was over, Gailen signed with Lancaster (PA) Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.  In his first season with Lancaster, Gailen hit .338, winning his second consecutive batting title and accumulated a .415 (BP) and .534 slugging while smashing 22 home runs, 89 RBIs, 26 doubles and stealing 25 bases, earning him Atlantic League MVP honors.

Gailen returned to Lancaster for the 2013 season, although not quite reaching the same level of success he enjoyed the previous season, hitting .288 and half the home runs (11). However, he hit ten more doubles.

At the end of the 2013 season, Gailen got chance #2 with MLB and signed a MiLB contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, and was assigned to their AAA affiliate Buffalo Bisons.  In eight games, Blake hit .286.

After the season, Blake decided to give Winter Ball a shot, and signed with Venados de Mazatlán of the Mexican Winter League.  In 2014, Blake was back with Lancaster, hitting .350 with 18 HRs and 15 doubles. 

After the 2014 Lancaster season, Gailen signed with Toros de Tijuana of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol for 51 games, hitting .271.  He also rejoined the Venados and spent some time with the Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League.

In 2015, Blake was back with the Barnstormers, but mid-year, he received his chance #3, and second with the Angels, where he signed another MiLB contract and was assigned to AA Arkansas.  He was more productive this time with Arkansas slugging 10 HRs and 15 doubles.  But that was not enough for a 2016 contract, so he was back with the Barnstormers, this time batting .280.

After off-season surgery, Blake again signed with Lancaster and played 48 games.

In 2017, Gailen participated in the World Baseball Classic with Team Israel, finishing in 3^rd place in Round 2 – Pool E.  After the WBC, Gailen was back with the Barnstormers batting .323/.408/.521 and getting the attention of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  On June 25, 2017, Blake signed a MiLB contract and was assigned to Tulsa (chance #4).  He played very well with Tulsa posting an impressive slash-line of .300 / .371 / .500, with seven home runs and 35 RBI in the 49 games in which he appeared. He was released by the Dodgers at the conclusion of spring training 2018.

Two days after being released by LAD, Blake resigned with…you guessed it, Lancaster Barnstormers.  He batted .282/.378/.511 and led the Atlantic League in HRs (28) and RBIs (91), while coming in at #2 in walks (72).  He was named an All Star for the third time.  On October 31, 2018, Gailen signed with Tomateros de Culiacan of the Mexican Pacific League.

On January 22, 2019, Blake signed a MiLB contract with the Dodgers, this time being assigned to AAA OKC.  In a very limited number of Abs (48), Blake batted .250/.321/.396 with 1 HR and 6 RBIs.  That was good enough to get Blake a 2020 MiLB contract with the Dodgers, but without a MiLB season and recognizing that Gailen was not going to be added to the 60 man player pool, he was released July 1, 2020.

As a member of Team Israel in 2017, Blake started the 3^rd game in CF in the WBC qualifying tournament, hitting a two-run HR and walking 2 additional times.  He played LF in the main tournament, adding that “it was the best experience of my life, there’s not even a question.”

In October 2018, Blake became a dual citizen of Israel and USA.  One of his goals was to help Israel qualify for the 2020 Olympics.  Per his Wikipedia page…

He played for Team Israel in the Confederation of European Baseball 2019 European Baseball Championship – B-Pool in early July 2019 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, as it won all six of its games and advanced to the playoffs against Team Lithuania in the 2019 Playoff Series at the end of July 2019 for the last qualifying spot for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.[8] He was named the MVP of the tournament, as he batted .571 (2nd in the tournament)/.654 (leading the tournament)/1.048 (2nd).

He played for Team Israel at the 2019 European Baseball Championship, where he batted .355/.412/.742 with 3 home runs and 8 RBIs in 31 at bats in seven games and was tied for second among all Championship batters in doubles (3), fifth in total bases (23), and tied for sixth in hits (11). He also played for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament in Italy in September 2019, which Israel won to qualify to play baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He played center field and batted .286/.375/.333 in the tournament.

Gailen said that as the last game of the tournament ended, with Israel qualifying for the 2020 Olympics: “I don’t remember ever crying during a game… But I was super emotional. This is the Olympics. It hit me so hard. And I saw how hard it was hitting the guys around me.”

Blake Gailen is a model of perseverance.  He has never felt sorry for himself, even though his baseball accomplishments could go head to head with many others who have received a more generous opportunity.  He continued to get up and play.  At 35, his chances at actually playing at the MLB level are extraordinarily long.  But I am not going to say he will not make it.  At the very least, if the pandemic subsides enough to allow for the Olympics to resume in 2021, Blake should get a chance to fulfill one of his dreams for playing Olympic Baseball for Team Israel in 2021.

With only five rounds in the most recent amateur draft, Blake sent out the following on his Twitter Page:

“To all those undrafted: been there.. it sucks.. but it doesn’t mean you’re no good or that you have to be done playing. If you keep playing, you have a chance to make it. If you quit, you’re guaranteeing you won’t make it. Play. Play until they rip the jersey off your back.”

At the very least, with his highly competitive nature, the Dodgers need to find a place for Blake Gailen on their Developmental Team.

Two other AAAA players with the Dodgers come to mind.  On September 1, 2017 (first game of a DH with SDP), after 7 MiLB years in the Dodgers organization, one of my favorites, O’Koyea Dickson, got his MLB debut with the Dodgers.  He went 0-3 with a walk in his debut.  On September 23, 2007, in his 6^th game, O’Koyea PH for Ross Stripling in the 3^rd inning and lined an 0-1 pitch from Madison Bumgarner for his first (and only) MLB hit. I remember jumping and loudly cheering after that hit.  Dickson signed with Rakuten of the Japanese League.  Dickson later signed a MiLB contract with Washington and was assigned to AA (2019).  He has played in the Mexican League (2019), and played Indy baseball in 2019.

My current AAAA favorite is LAD OF Anthony Garcia.  Garcia (now 28), was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 18^th round of the 2009 draft from San Juan Educational School (San Juan, Puerto Rico). Anthony started his professional career with the Cardinals in 2009.  He was never promoted to the MLB club, and on November 6, 2017, Garcia elected FA, and signed with the Oakland A’s.

Garcia stayed with the A’s for one year and on November 29, 2018, Garcia signed a MiLB contract with San Francisco.  He played in Sacramento (AAA) for all of 2018, and chose FA again after 2018.

On December 19, 2019, Anthony signed a MiLB contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Garcia is currently on the 60 man player pool assigned to the secondary site at USC.  Anthony had a fairly productive ST.  In 15 AB (20 PA), Anthony batted .267/.476/.400/.876 with 5 runs, 4 hits, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs, 5 walks and 5 strikeouts.  I do not see Anthony getting called up in 2020 with the Dodgers, but he is on the 60 man player pool, so he is eligible to be traded if another team is looking for an extra OF.  He will turn 29 on January 4, so there is still time for Anthony to get that MLB debut. 

So while it is easy to cheer the accomplishments of the likes of Mookie Betts and Corey Seager, I continue to hold out hope for the AAAA players; Andy Dominique, O’Koyea Dickson, Rob Segedin, Blake Gailen, Anthony Garcia…