I can see both sides of the debate, but I think they had more faith in the pen and having $4-6M to beef it up over the summer than going with Johnson, Velazquez and Weber as our 5th starter.
You're right, it was no slam dunk.
Once could argue the same about Pearce, but at least he's had 3-4 years of great success against lefties and had done pretty good against righties over the last couple years. With Moreland always getting hurt, I can see why we signed him, too.
BTW, we had more choices than Kimbrel or Eovaldi (and Pearce.)