I think by that point, Caruso was being groomed to take over that South Side crew anyways. Lombardo came back from prison and basically retired and was tight with DiFronzo as the senior advisor in the Outfit, which is typically held by a semi-active guy who still commands a lot of respect. He was no longer active capo of Grand Ave. but Cozzo and that crew was still definitely under Lumby's thumb.

For a lot of this stuff, you just have to use educated guesses.