I actually like Junior Lake. It would be cool if the Cubs had not traded away Soriano and then they could have Lake in CF and Soriano in LF.
And then Bonifacio doesn't play as often(or Lake) and he's been lighting it up. The simple fact of the matter is Soriano isn't hitting that well at .208/.255/.438 with 3 homers 6 runs and 4 RBIs in 51 plate appearances. Lake is hitting .270/.308/.541 with 2 homers 5 runs and 3 RBIs in 40 PAs. This also isn't just a "slump" for Soriano. He hit .259/.288/.472 last season in the first half as well as .255/.302/.489 for the season. In 2011 he hit .244/.289/.469. In 2009 he hit .241/.303/.423. If Soriano still played 2B I'd be far less critical of him. LF is where you generally hide decent hitters who don't play great defense. Let me put it this way. If I were to ask you if the cubs traded for Chris Carter would you even give a shit? I'm guessing not and wouldn't be surprised if you asked "who?" But consider the stats Soriano and Carter put up last season.
Carter(for the Astros) - 29 homers 64 runs 82 rbis 2 SB .223/.320/.451
Soriano - 34 homers 84 runs 101 rbis 18 SB .255/.302/.489
Soriano has slightly more power and slightly better average but didn't walk as much and thus his OBP is lower. If you put Carter on the yanks for half a year their run/rbi totals are likely similar. Maybe Soriano is slightly better overall but that's not really my point. My point is Soriano is at best an average LF. He's largely living off his past glory and reputation. He's 38 and would it really be that shocking to see his poor early season play continue over the entire season?
Now I get the argument that Soriano if he's an average OF may be better than what the cubs have. As I've shown, thus far Lake is better but you could argue something like Lake in RF, trade Schierholtz, Soriano in LF and Bonifacio in CF. Feasibly something like that could work. But to what end? They aren't going to sign him as a 39 year old to play LF next year. Would him being on the cubs this year actually change anything? I'm pretty optimistic about this team suggesting they could win 70-75 games. Most aren't that high on the team. But even if Soriano is better than what they have he's not getting them 10 more wins. In other words, Soriano being on this team is totally irrelevant. On the contrary, getting Lake every day experience in LF may end up making him a better player in 2015. Playing Bonifacio in CF may give them a full time player in 2015. Schierholtz may or may not be traded this year but he very well could end up on the team in 2015 and even if he is traded someone like Vitters or whomever they decide to play instead of Schierholtz would see at bats that may actually have some impact on the next 2-3 years.
Long story short who the **** cares that Soriano is gone? He's not a 30 year old player who's had 1-2 bad years and could turn things around. He's a 38 year old who's nearing the end of his career and may not even be in the majors in 2015. It's not like they traded away a star in their prime. The cubs have had him for the past 5 years where they won 66 games, 61 games, 71 games, 75 games, and 83 games. He's made them at best two games over .500 in those 5 years. His first couple years with the cubs are probably underrated but he's not that guy anymore. I don't care about his past. I care about who the cubs will be playing in the OF over the next 2-3 years. Maybe Lake ultimately doesn't work out. Maybe Vitters is forever a 4A player. Maybe any other of the guys they end up playing there are total shit. But then you at least know and can try to address it via trade/FA/whatever. I already know for a fact that Soriano given his age wasn't going to be a part of a contending cubs team at this point in his career.