How much money spent? How much time wasted? To discover a small, fast ship made of aluminum was bad idea for a surface combat vessel.
So turn them over to the USCG.
To assess this properly, one would need to sit down with the people who assess the various regions of the world, project likely threats, and profile future missions. I've not done that. With that caveat, however, the LCS always struck me as (perhaps) a good idea. The burden of this story is that the Navy erred in asking the type to do too much. Mission creep spoiling the platform is an old story.
I've always thought of the LCS, correctly designed and configured, as probably a good platform in the Persian Gulf and pirate infested waters off Africa and in S.E. Asia. We're clearly concerned about the vulnerability of major blue water fleet assets to missile and swarm attacks in constricted waters. Something like the LCS -- much smaller, faster, maneuverable, much cheaper, and capable of outrunning and outgunning any other small craft in these areas -- would be a good thing to have. Adding too many missions is a fatal error.
Buy a flotilla equipped as fast patrol boats and exterminate the pirates off Somalia. I'd call that a successful test. Then move them to the Straits of Malacca.