I can remember reading on wikipedia that several different designs were put forward for the Alaska class cruisers, including 6000t(!) cruisers, or overgrown heavy cruisers. Given that the general consensus on the board is that the Alaska's were a bad design built too late, would a different design solve the problem?
Maybe a super Baltimore with 12 8' inch guns, a smaller Alaska with 10' inch guns and better underwater protection, a enlarged Baltimore with 20 5' inch guns or if you want to be radical, a 35000-ton second-class battleship.