Except I'm not in agreement - let alone violent agreement - about the bolded and I'm not sure what I've typed that would make you think I am. I believe he is gone for a variety of reasons, all of which were of his own volition. I believe he chose to leave, while you seemingly believe he was at least partially pushed out the door.
Yeah, I can't prove it but my sense is that not all of the reasons that Larry is gone were volitional. I don't think he was fired per se but my take from all I read and observed is that there was some dissatisfaction on Henry's part and some minimizing of his role, which combined with the other factors (health, Pawtucket, age), resulted in his departure. That there is no story out there on this does not mean much to me. From what I understand, Shank and Larry are close, and I could see the CHB choosing not to write that Larry left partially for these reasons. Similarly, that no one otherwise leaked it doesn't change my views as I view that whole meme as overstated. The Boston media doesn't get every story on their own or on a platter. Finally, that Larry's statement did not address this does not move me at all. They accomplished so much together here and I would assume that he chose to leave whatever negatives existed at the end unsaid.
I could be wrong and it could be all Larry's choice. But I seriously doubt it.
And Crystalline, my guess is that CC was a collective judgment of Theo, Ben, Larry, John and Tom, and others in the organization. With that size of a contract, I'm sure there was healthy debate and I would assume they collectively got comfortable with going forward. Without being a fly on the wall, it's really difficult to know who the driver was and who had the biggest reservations. That said, even if Larry was the A1 driver, the reports are that he played a key role in the Dodgers trade, so he certainly redeemed himself well there. After all, that trade was key to the 2013 title year. As a result, it's hard for me to believe that the Crawford signing, by itself, played a big role in whatever happened with Larry's departure.