Was Alaska an unnatural cruiser design?

Was building the Alaska class a mistake in cruiser terms?

Not inherently; the class resembles where heavy cruisers might naturally have developed by the 1940s without treaty limits.

The Alaska class is treated as a plausible development rather than an inexplicable break in cruiser history. Heavy cruisers could naturally have grown toward this scale by the 1940s without treaty limits. That does not establish that every feature or procurement decision was optimal. Alaska can still be judged as one possible endpoint of the heavy-cruiser category rather than as a small battleship by default.