MESA, Ariz. -- Craig Counsell got in front of players and staff from throughout the Cubs¡¯ organization on Monday morning and discussed the importance of connectedness. The way the Cubs¡¯ new manager views things, everyone listening to his words in the auditorium will have a role to play in the season ahead.

Counsell cracked a smile one day earlier when asked if it would be a motivational speech.

¡°I really think how we interact every day, that becomes the motivation,¡± Counsell said. ¡°We¡¯re not filming a movie.¡±

Maybe not, but things didn¡¯t go according to script last year, and this is a Cubs team that wants to get back to a place where a Hollywood ending is possible once again. Consider Counsell the experienced director, coming in to get more out of a cast that features plenty of characters reprising their roles from last season.

Coming off an 83-win showing with a September fade that ended with Chicago narrowly missing the playoffs, the Cubs are counting on improvement from within and a boost from additions like starter Shota Imanaga and reliever H¨¦ctor Neris. The question hovering over the Cubs is whether that will be enough to reach the postseason.

¡°Absolutely,¡± Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said. ¡°I think we¡¯ve added some parts that are going to be really, really beneficial to the whole. And I don¡¯t see any reason why we wouldn¡¯t be favored for our division this year.¡±

Counsell was asked about Ricketts saying the Cubs should be the favorites to claim the National League Central crown.

¡°That's good with me,¡± said Counsell, who reached the playoffs in five of the past six seasons as manager of the rival Brewers. ¡°I think that's where you set your expectations every single year, so there's no reason we should have lower expectations than that.¡±

Counsell noted that Ricketts took the manager and his coaching staff out to dinner on Sunday night, giving them a chance to get to know one another a little more. One thing Counsell is learning is that, while Ricketts will discuss aspects of the baseball side, the team¡¯s chairman prefers to let president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and his front office make the final decisions.

That has included the talks with free-agent center fielder Cody Bellinger, who thrived for the Cubs last season and remained a favorite among the players in camp with Chicago. Multiple Cubs have voiced that they would like the club to re-sign Bellinger, but Hoyer has held the line with his valuation and talks remain at a stalemate.

¡°Jed does a really nice job,¡± Ricketts said. ¡°He definitely sees that you can only spend every dollar once, and he knows that you don't want to have too many long-term contracts when you have a lot of young guys that are coming up through the Minors.¡±

Anyone hoping for a recreation of the Dexter Fowler surprise re-signing in the spring of ¡®16 walked away disappointed on Monday morning. The only thing happening on Field 6 at the Cubs¡¯ complex was live batting practice. Lefty Drew Smyly and righty Daniel Palencia threw to hitters. Bellinger did not emerge from the batting cages to join them.

Bellinger -- along with free agents Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and J.D. Martinez -- is represented by agent Scott Boras. At this point, Ricketts said the Cubs are just in wait-and-see mode on the Bellinger front. There have been discussions, but ¡°it hasn¡¯t become a negotiation,¡± said the Cubs' chairman.

¡°I¡¯m like everyone else. We¡¯re just waiting,¡± Ricketts said. ¡°We¡¯re waiting for whenever he and his agent are going to engage. It could be any time now, or it could be a few weeks. We¡¯ll just see where it goes.¡±

In the meantime, the Cubs are focused on the group that filled the diamonds throughout the complex on Monday morning.

The Gold Glove middle-infield duo of Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner anchor an elite defense. Seiya Suzuki is coming off an impressive second half and might be a breakout candidate. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch and Jordan Wicks look like the start of a wave of prospect talent feeding the MLB club from one of baseball¡¯s top systems.

¡°There are a lot of great internal things that are going on,¡± Swanson said. ¡°At the end of the day, we are excited, now that camp has fully started, about what's ahead of us. And I think things will only continue to get better.¡±

And it will require more than a motivational speech from Counsell.

¡°Really, this is the start of something,¡± said the manager. ¡°And it¡¯s on all of us to make it look like the way we want it to look.¡±