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Splayed 4-bolt main caps were developed as a “cure” for the main web “splitting” that was common to OEM 2-bolt Chevy blocks in competition applications. By angling the outboard bolts, it helped “pull” the block together. Moreover, there simply isn’t enough “meat” in the webs to add bolts in the normal manner.
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Keith Craft's main girdle for the FE does the same thing. It doesn't attempt to stop up/down motion in the caps, it just ties together the bottom of the block, mostly side-to-side, with a relatively flexible (up/down) structure using the maincaps and oilpan rail. His girdle he only recommends in 600+HP situations, for the same reasons, to prevent splitting the bottom of the block "in competition applications".
I think we all need to keep in mind the intended purpose of whatever engine is being judged, and judge it on that level, not try to put down an engine which may fail at a level it was never intended to be used on, not to judge a hill against a mountain, or an engine that was subject to different rules and limits against one that had only one limit: none.