Cub Tracks Needs To Eat Some Innings

With one week until pitchers and catchers report (and those seven days can't pass quickly enough), here's the latest from around the web:

From Comcast SportsNet Chicago:

• Tony Andracki looks at the catcher position for the Cubs which was a position of weakness this time last year but has now turned into a position of strength.
• [VIDEO] Anthony Rizzo spoke with Kelly Crull at the Cubs convention about his offseason, his trip to Italy, and his optimism for the upcoming season. I know; you're probably thinking: "Wasn't the convention a few weeks ago?" So was I. Maybe the video department at CSN is swamped.

From Cubs.com:

• Another person optimistic for the upcoming season is Mike Olt, who is looking to take the lessons he learned late last season at Triple-A Iowa and apply them in his 2015 campaign.
• In the first of a series of Spring Training previews, Carrie Muskat looks at five Cubs hoping to bounce back in 2015: Olt, Ryan Sweeney, Travis Wood, Edwin Jackson, and... Daniel Bard?

From ESPN Chicago:

• Jesse Rogers gives predictions of best-case and worst-case scenarios for the 2015 season.

From CBS Chicago:

• The dreaded "innings-eater" label surfaces again, but this time not in reference to Edwin Jackson. Instead, the Cubs are hoping to be able to use it on Jake Arrieta in a quest to get him to 200 innings in a single season.

From the Chicago Tribune via RedEye Chicago:

• Former Cub catcher and short-time folk hero John Baker can relate to the pain felt by the players on the Jackie Robinson West Little League team, having been ruled ineligible in his youth from a Pony League Tournament right before it was about to begin. Literally.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

• While speaking with Sports Illustrated, Joe Maddon addressed the issue of longer baseball games and asked: "What's the problem?"

From Cubs Den:

• In the final part of a three-part series, Kevin Gallo discusses the conversation with his mentor about three foundation players on the roster: Jake Arrieta, Starlin Castro, and Anthony Rizzo.

From Bleacher Nation:

• When asked about the Cubs-Cardnials rivalry this upcoming season, Cardinals' first baseman Matt Adams summed up his feelings with a smile and said "They're not going to beat us."
• The 2015 draft order has been set and the Cubs will be picking ninth and 47th overall in the first two rounds. Their bonus pool is estimated at $7.55 million per Baseball America.
• Peter Gammons recently wrote about Dexter Fowler and the relationship that he has with his mentor and training partner -- Barry Bonds.

Miscellaneous:

• Ian Casselberry from The Outside Corner gives his choices for the ten prospects most likely to make an impact for their respective teams in 2015.
• From the "Where Are They Now" files: Former Cub pitcher Jason Berken is back in his hometown of De Pere, Wisconsin where he runs the Berken Baseball Camp, helping kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay.
• And then there's Jamie Moyer, who spoke on Monday at the South Bend Cubs First Pitch Banquet about several topics including the positive memories he has from his minor-league days before joining the Cubs in 1986.
• More accolades for Ernie Banks from outside of Chicago, as Jack Bales from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star recalls Banks as an exuberant and ego-less player, always sunny instead of sullen.
• Miriam Romain from Examiner.com reflects on her memories of Banks and how lucky she was to have known him.

Today's food for thought: