Joey ‘CabaJoey’ Meneses steps into the batter’s box for Tomateros de Culiacán on October 31, slotting in at cleanup and playing first base against the Charros de Jalisco. The Sinaloa native comes straight from a Triple-A season where he led the entire Pacific Coast League with 110 RBI in 118 games — and still only got 9 games in the big leagues before the Athletics sent him back down.
His homecoming lands in the middle of a series that carries real weight: Tomateros is looking for payback against the team that took the title from them in January.
The number that doesn’t add up: 110 RBI, 9 MLB games
With the Las Vegas Aviators, Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, Meneses closed out the 2026 season leading the Pacific Coast League across the board: .306 average, 16 home runs, 27 doubles and 110 RBI in 118 games. On September 12, the club named him Aviators MVP — an honor presented by team president and COO Don Logan.
The context makes the number hit harder. The Athletics had called him up on June 21, gave him 9 games in the majors — where he hit .150 — then optioned him back. The MVP award came on the other side of that demotion. Not a steady climb; a flat-out response.
Meneses became a free agent on September 29. Three weeks later, on October 24, Tomateros announced his return for what is now his 14th season with the club. The relationship goes back to 2016, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Revenge at home: Tomateros (6-6) hosts the back-to-back champion Charros (8-6)
This isn’t just another regular-season game. The Charros de Jalisco swept Tomateros in four games in the LMP 2025-26 Championship Series, winning back-to-back titles in January. This three-game set — October 30 through November 1 — is the first time the two clubs have met in Culiacán this season. The Charros won the opener 4-3, so Tomateros needs a win tonight just to stay even in the series.
With Meneses hitting fourth, the message from the dugout is clear.
In last season’s LMP playoffs, Meneses had led the Tomateros postseason run with a .447 average, 17 hits, 10 runs scored and 8 RBI — numbers that weren’t enough because the trophy went the other way. Tonight he gets another shot at the same team that ended it.
14 seasons in red and a big-league career that isn’t over
In the majors, Meneses carries a .272 average, 29 home runs and 167 RBI across 286 games split between the Washington Nationals and the Oakland/Sacramento Athletics. That’s not a small body of work for a player the system consistently undervalued.
He arrives in Culiacán for his 14th Tomateros season without a 2027 MLB contract in hand. A Triple-A MVP award doesn’t guarantee a spring training invite, and nobody knows that better than he does. For now, the goal is simpler: beat the Charros tonight in front of a crowd that’s been waiting for him — 110 RBI and all.
