It’s tough to catch up on a Lukewarm Stove when so much activity has happened. I started typing this one out about three days ago. And things are happening as I type these very sentences.

Add the Rays to the list of teams with controllable young pitching that are interested in controllable young hitting, and thus could be a trade partner for the Cubs. Marc Topkin mentions that here, and it’s a pretty obvious possible fit, what with the Rays having guys like Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly, Erasmo Ramirez, Alex Colome, and Tommy John bounce-back candidate Matt Moore theoretically available. (Don’t say Chris Archer, because, no, I don’t think there’s any chance in hell the Rays seriously consider moving him, and you wouldn’t even want to know what it would take if they did.) The Rays also have couple pricey relievers they might look to move (Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee) or an outfielder like Desmond Jennings (no, I don’t think Kevin Kiermaier would be moved).

Jayson Stark hears the same about the Rays’ non-Archer pitchers being available.

The Cardinals, having missed out on David Price and Jeff Samardzija, and now having lost John Lackey, figure to be particularly aggressive at the Winter Meetings. They’ve got plenty of money, and chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr., pretty much says in that article that the Cardinals intend on staying within the top 1/3 of baseball in terms of payroll. With payrolls rising rapidly, and with money coming off the books this and next year (Matt Holliday’s team-high contract ends after 2016), that means they’re going to spend. They just are. I’m preparing myself for it.

Among his pre-Winter Meetings thoughts, Jon Morosi mentions that Kenta Maeda’s posting is expected to begin this week. How the Japanese ace’s availability will impact the market is going to be very interesting to watch.

The Tigers made another pitcher signing, though a lesser tier than Jordan Zimmermann this time around: Mike Pelfrey, who is reportedly getting a couple years and $16 million. Pelfrey, 31, was an average starter two out of his three years in Minnesota, so you could make an argument that this is a fine deal for the Tigers. Still, it’s hard to look at $8 million per year over multiple years and not think that the price of poker truly is going up across the board.