I don't see the problem with shuffling the stats around, this table (it's copied from DMG, p274 if anyone wanna check it out, it's a great balancing tool) exists for a reason.
From my experience, so long you are keeping it as a guideline, you will end up with the same CR/XP value as the MM
![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/FsaN6rH.png)